Tired
by Narutoenthusiast
Summary: Things go wrong at the last Sasuke retrieval mission and Naruto ends up taking the blame for it. Now, tired of everything being his fault, he sets up a new way of thinking that happens to go against every belief he once had. Problem is that not everyone seems very thrilled about the change.
1. Prologue

**Tired of being known as the hyperactive knucklehead ninja of Konoha**

**Summary: What would happen if Naruto, now 15 years old and still a genin, grew tired of the fact that everyone in Konoha considers him as being the most hyperactive knucklehead ninja of the hidden village. What if, all of a sudden, Naruto becomes serious about his life as a ninja and starts to train harder than ever, accomplishing difficult and impossible missions and becoming an elite ANBU captain?**

**Pairing Naruto x Anko**

**Chapter 1 – Prologue**

Travelling in order to encounter Kabuto at the Heaven and Earth Bridge was Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, member of Anbu Yamato and Sai, member of the Anbu Root. The group was approximately 10 miles away from their destination, so Yamato decided that the group should set camp, because the sky was getting darker by the minute.

Once achieved the group's consent, Yamato performed some hand seals and a wood house emerged from the ground that served as a base camp for the group to plan the mission at the very last detail. Once everyone of the group had settled, Yamato gathered everyone and went to the details of the mission.

"So, from the report that Tsunade-Sama handed to me, we are to meet Kabuto at the Heaven & Earth Bridge in a couples days time – Says Yamato, showing to the group, the area map and a file regarding Kabuto's data. Sakura, why don't you tell me exactly how Sasori is, and give me everything you know, because if we are to succeed this mission, I need to make a perfect henge technique of Sasori."

Once Sakura gave a precise report regarding the red scorpion Sasori, Yamato started to tell his plan, regarding the mission:

"As you all know, the plan is the following – I am going to perform a henge technique and disguise in Sasori in order to abduct Kabuto, hopefully, without any need of battle. You three will hide yourselves and your chakra so that he can't be suspicious of the trap. In case I fail to abduct him, I am to give you three a signal in order to disable kabuto quickly as possible. Agreed?"

After a huge "HAI" was heard, all went to sleep in order to get ready for the mission in two days. Little did they know that they would have an unexpected visit for none other than the snake sannin.

* * *

**--Mission date--**

When the mission date arrived, Sasori (Yamato in disguise) and Kabuto met in the middle of the bridge, with three konoha ninjas hiding in a safe distance as to not blow Yamato's cover and ruin the mission. Also, looking up and with a very scary expression, shows Orochimaru, analyzing the situation and already notice the three teenage ninjas hidden.

All of a sudden, Orochimaru showed up behind Kabuto, with his body surrounded by snakes.

"Do I smell treason, Kabuto?" – Orochimaru said with a grin.

"Orochimaru-Sama? Were you following me?" – Kabuto answered with apparent susprise in his face.

Then Kabuto showed his devotion to the snake sannin and revealed his plan to kill Sasori (henged Yamato) with his technique Chacka scalpel, for a bunch of broken wood starts flying, destroying the mokuton henge technique and showing a surprised Yamato.

Once the signal was sent, three Konoha ninjas appeared from their hiding positions, only for Orochimaru tell that he already sensed them before, and knew of the group's intentions, regarding Kabuto. Haruno Sakura and Sai were focused on the enemy, but Naruto, only by looking at the responsible for Sasuke leaving Konoha in order to obtain power, became angry at a point that his eyes burned red, his hair, fingernails and teeth changed in a way never seen before, as well as tails appearing, one by one.

When the third tail appeared, a red aura emanated from Naruto could be sensed by the entire forest, scaring both Sakura and Sai, since they were clueless of what was happening to his teammate.Yamato figured this out, and quickly told to both, that's Kyuubi's chakra, not Naruto's, which resulted in a more scared expression of Sakura.

Once the four tail appeared, Naruto transformed into a little kyuubi with four tails and red skin, now recognizable by no one and set to charge Orochimaru, who cursed Naruto for his lack of skill, since he resorted to the Kyuubi's chakra.

"Pitiful child, resorting to Kyuubi all the time".

"All that Naruto could say was groan at anything, since he is now being controlled by the nine-tailed beast."

After a monster like fight between Orochimaru and mini Kyuubi and the entire destruction of the area, Orochimaru and Kabuto escaped and Yamato had to stay doing his mokuton technique in order to calm the kyuubi's chakra and save Naruto, cursing him for resorting to Kyuubi's chakra without any need for it.

Once Yamato saved Naruto, the group, now without Sai since he escaped with Orochimaru in order to fulfil his secret mission **(1) **given by Danzou, leader of Root, started to chase Orochimaru, until the reached his hideout.

By performing a doton technique, the three group members infiltrated the hideout. Once inside, they managed to find Sai and his secret mission, only for him to say that since they found out his mission, he failed this mission.

After a search throughout the hideout, the now entire group found Uchiha Sasuke and engaged him in battle. Then from out of nowhere, Sasuke showed the results of his training and appeared in front of Naruto, with his sword in his hand, ready to stab Naruto's back and saying:

"You shouldn't come here, Naruto, I told you already you do not stand a chance against me. You are too much of a knucklehead to ever win a fight against anyone with at least low chunnin level." – Laughed Sasuke.

"Shut up you teme" – Barked Naruto, infuriated with the adjective knucklehead.

Sai managed to stop Sasuke's blade with his own, only for Sasuke laugh and use his new technique called Chidori Nagashi and blasted everyone with electricity current. After, Sasuke escaped with Orochimaru and Kabuto, resulting the mission to fail and for the group to report to Tsunade-Sama, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha hidden village.

On the way back, Yamato argued with Naruto:

"Naruto, why would you channel to Kyuubi's chakra before? Because of that, this mission failed and you are to be held responsible for it. If only you tried to think once in your life, you would not make as many bad decisions as you make."

"Sorry Yamato-sensei, I was careless." But All Naruto could think is: _Why everyone underestimates me? Why everyone call me Knucklehead? Why Sakura-chan is blaming me as well for failing the mission?_

Naruto then looked at Sakura, who was giving him an evil glare, reached him and started vomiting angry words at Naruto:

"Why Naruto? Don't you want to rescue Sasuke, you've made a promise to me, you know? Why you screw up all the time, Knucklehead?"

Naruto, when hearing that nickname, became very angry at her. In fact that nickname he has been hearing everytime since he graduated from the academy. Sakura's curse at Naruto was the last one needed for him to get furious in the worst possible level. He knew it was time to change the way the population of Konoha and foreigners think about Uzumaki Naruto.

Once near the village, Naruto knew one thing "_Never again will people underestimate me"_.

* * *

(1) Infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout and kill Uchiha Sasuke, now missing nin and considered a criminal by Konoha's bingo book.


	2. Facing Reality

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* * *

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Tired of being Known as the hyperactive knucklehead ninja of Konoha

**Summary: What would happen if Naruto, now 15 years old and still a genin, grew tired of the fact that everyone in Konoha considers him as being the most hyperactive knucklehead ninja of the hidden village. What if, all of a sudden, Naruto becomes serious about his life as a ninja and starts to train harder than ever, accomplishing difficult and impossible missions and becoming an elite ANBU captain?**

**Pairing Naruto x Anko**

**Chapter 2 – Facing ****Reality**

A couple days after the mission, the group was standing beside the Godaime, giving the report of the mission that was a complete failure.

"So, Yamato report on your mission" – Ordered Tsunade.

"Hai Tsunade-Sama. As planned, I henged into Sasori and encountered Kabuto at the designated area. However we had n unexpected visit from Orochimaru that happen to plot an assassination of the akatsuki member with the help of Kabuto. , Naruto, after hearing about Sasuke from Orochimaru became angry, channelling the power of the Kyuubi four tails and turned to fight Orochimaru and Kabuto at the same time. After that, Orochimaru and Kabuto escaped, I manage to turn Naruto back into his form with mokuton jutsu and Sakura healed his burned body. After following Orochimaru and Kabuto's trace we managed to find their hideout and we came face to face with Sasuke. Once Naruto and him were neck to neck, being tired because of the Kyuubi's transformation, Naruto didn't have time to rest, failing to capture him and they escaped" – Explained Yamato, finishing his report.

Tsunade noticed evil glares from Yamato and Sakura towards Naruto, which came as a surprise to her, so she bothered to give the blonde shinobi the right to verify the story said by Yamato.

"The story is true." – Said Naruto, never losing his new serious posture, which once again appeared strange to the blonde hokage, since she expected him to be either screaming his lungs on his behalf or becoming angry at them for implying that it was his fault the mission failed.

Tsunade actually was a little drunk, so just to play with the blond, she aimed a chakra enhanced punch directly on his face. She would not hit him with it, in fact she would stop her arm really close to his nose. When the fist approached, Tsunade noticed that Naruto did not even bother to defend himself or even showed any side of fear for the upcoming blow. When she stopped the punch inches from Naruto's face, she, as intrigued as she was, turned to ask why.

"Why you didn't defend yourself? My fist could make quite damage on your skull." – Now, she was more than ever worried about her surrogate family's sanity, since the old one would close his eyes and be frightened, just waiting for the blow.

"It's because I admit my failure and I deserve to be punished, Hokage-Sama. The entire mission was a failure and it was because of my stupidity and harsh thinking, therefore I'm to hold responsible for the failure of the mission." – Said Naruto, earning glances from everyone. Sakura and Yamato, even though were very mad at Naruto, never passed though their heads that Naruto would admit that he was wrong, or even be hold responsible for the failure of the mission. Tsunade and Shizune were trying to look for any kind of emotion through Naruto's eyes, but couldn't find anyone, it was like he was admitting defeat. Sai was as stoic and emotionless as ever.

But Tsunade, somehow, knew, after looking further, that Naruto wasn't giving up at all, that look on his eyes was almost the same as his father, when serious. This Naruto was frightening her to no end. She never thought she would be scared of Naruto, but now it's looks like he suffered an extreme transformation or Minato took over his body.

But since the report was over, Tsunade dismissed everyone, so Yamato and Sai shunshined out of the room, while Sakura went for the door and never looked back. After some time, Naruto requested to speak to Tsunade in private, and she agreed.

"So, Naruto, what would you like to talk to me about and be quick." – Now this was a new thing. Normally, Tsunade would already know what Naruto wanted to talk about, since usually was about new missions and complaints about the teammates that he was to be grouped with, but now she couldn't anticipate what he was about to talk about and she feared that it could be something serious.

"Actually, Hogake-Sama, I noticed that the Chunnin Exams will be in two weeks from now, so I would like a two-week training period in order to take the exams and finally advance to Chunnin?" – Said Naruto, earning surprising glances from Tsunade, since a) Naruto wasn't calling her Baa-chan but now hokage-sama and b) she totally forgot about the chunnin exams.

"Naruto, I…". Naruto didn't wait for Tsunade to answer, and requested another favor.

"Also, I would like those chakra elemental papers, so I can know which chakra element I'm most suited for in order to start my training"

"But, Naruto, what about Team Kakashi? They will need you with them on future missions." – Said Tsunade trying to convince him to not do the chunnin exams and proceed with Sakura and Yamato or Kakashi who by this time was already recovered.

"They can very well take care of each other, and, as they said, all I ever do is mess things up, anyway." – Said Naruto, in a calm manner, trying to hide his utter frustration with the so called teammates of his and the fact that they always underestimate him.

"OK, Naruto, I will grant your wish, but we have to talk with Kakashi about it. He will be crushed when you tell him about it."

Naruto, knowing that Kakashi was actually hearing the whole conversation, since not only he sensed his chakra signature but also spotted a shadow with spike hair, near one of the windows outside the Hokage's office, showed a little grin and calmly stated.

"Don't worry about that Hokage-sama, I am sure he already knows. I'll see you in a couple weeks time at the chunnin exams, until then take care of yourself." – Said Naruto and walked calmly to the door and left the office.

"Ok." – Said Tsunade, still dumbstruck from seeing the blonde's new behavior, but she was wondering how Naruto knew that Kakashi was already listening to the whole conversation from outside the room. Actually Jiraya was a master in sensing other people's chakra signatures from far away so she guessed that he taught Naruto that ability up to a kin level with his own.

After that, Naruto vanished from sight and Kakashi appeared from the window, as he was hearing everything. He was wondering what the hell happened that made everyone blame Naruto for what happened. Sure Naruto weren't the brightest mind of the rookie 9 but to an extent to blame him. But what puzzled him to no end, was Naruto himself and his sudden change and also the fact that Naruto took charge and the responsibility for what happened. Kakashi actually was glad of Naruto's antics, since it reminded him so much of his sensei.

As Kakashi just entered the room, Naruto collected the chakra elemental papers and stored him inside his pocket, while walking towards the administration building's exit, when Shizune called him so as to have a little conversation and try to understand her surrogate little brother and what's going on with him that resulted in his change of behavior. Shizune was sad at seeing the seriousness in Naruto's face just as Kakashi was. From her part, Naruto's happiness and behavior just happened to bring out the best in people and she was very well proud of her little brother for that part, but now she was scared of what he could be thinking.

"Naruto-kun, wait up, I want to talk to you a little bit, if that's okay with you?" – Asked Shizune seeing Naruto's back with his hands inside his pockets, slowly turning himself to watch his sister, while demonstrating a look of total apathy and indifference, much to Shizune's dismay and sadness.

"What do you need, Shizune-neechan?" – Answered Naruto with very little concern in his voice.

"Naruto-kun, why are you like this? This look of yours doesn't suit you at all. Is there something wrong with you? It's okay, you can talk to me, after all you're like a little brother to me". – Smiled warmly Shizune, a little relieved after receiving a smile from Naruto as well.

"Don't need to worry about me Shizune-neechan, it's just a little realization on my part that now it hit me worse in my face than Tsunade-sama's chakra enhanced punches." – Said Naruto, who even though showed care to his sister, answered with little bit of emotion.

At this, Shizune was caught staring hardly at her brother for what he said, first of all because of how profound he seemed and second was that he once remarked the hokage as an old lady and now he calls her tsunade-sama or hokage-sama, even though they weren't at the presence of such person.

"What could it be, Naruto-kun that changed that happiness in you that always seemed to cheer everyone up. Where is the old Naruto who could very well change everything bad to good just with his presence?" – Asked Shizune, wondering just where that Naruto was hiding and actually considering that this one wasn't the Naruto she came to know, which in fact it wasn't.

"I'll tell you Shizune-neechan. It's because of the fact that no one I know thinks of me as a good shinobi or even good at something. For everyone, I'm the 'dobe', the 'dead last', the 'idiot', the 'pathetic excuse of a shinobi'. If you have one more, why not add to that list, while we're talking about it. I'm just sick and tired of being underestimated of my abilities and even though that perverted of a sannin didn't teach me shit, I'm going to train all by myself". – Said Naruto, while Shizune was displaying looks of sadness, anger and disappointment. Sadness was from seeing the one never ending happiness and stamina freak show his true emotions for the first time as well as acknowledge the fact that no one is always happy and that Naruto had earned moments of true reflections at his life. Anger of herself as well as everyone's misjudgment of Naruto's abilities and disappointment at Jiraya for apparently wasting three years of Naruto's life, not training him.

"Naruto-kun, tell me about your training with Jiraya-sama? After all, you spend three years training with him?" – Asked Shizune, so as to confirm her suspicions.

"If you could call that training, I mean we practiced a bit of taijutsu for the first months than we wasted the entire year trying to channel some of the damn fox's chakra in order to control it. Eventually, he gave me a crash course of genjutsu and that's about it. No ninjutsu training, except perfecting the rasengan. That's about it. When I asked him about it, he said that he needed to talk to his spying networks about the Akatsuki and left me for granted. So to sum up, he didn't want to waste his time with me". – Said Naruto, explaining what he did which Shizune could sum up and conclude that from three years, all he trained was six months and nothing more.

"I can't believe him. He did nothing to train you. No efforts whatsoever". – If Shizune was angry, now she was fuming. _How could he do something like that with Naruto? How could he waste Naruto's life like that?"_

"He pretty much thought the same thing as everyone thinks right now, I guess. But that will end right here right now." – Said Naruto showing determined look that scared his sister a little bit, but she as being his sister, tried to run damage control, but to no avail.

"Wait, Naruto-kun, I can talk to Tsunade-sama and she can summon someone who could teach you, you don't need to do this alone. How about that?"

"NO! I won't rely on people to train me anymore. From now on, I will only rely on myself to train and get better. If I would tell for all the teachers that I had, I would say that from everyone, only Iruka-sensei taught me anything. The other teachers from the academy just didn't want to teach me because of my burden, Kakashi-sensei was pressed by the council to teach the stupid Uchiha, Jiraya didn't want to teach me and only said he would so he would take me away from Konoha and from the Akatsuki's tracks. I'm not even counting Yamato on this. If I want to become better as a shinobi, I will need to do this by myself". – Exploded Naruto in front of his sister, apparently extinguishing every bit of hope to convince him to calm down a bit.

"I see. You changed Naruto-kun. I never thought I would see the day when you become like you are now. I kind of miss the old Naruto who was able to convince Tsunade-sama to take the position as Hokage". – Sighed Shizune, as she was resorting to pity talk to try to get through the blonde, but what he answered, it was enough to tell her that maybe that one that she was missing, was just a charade.

"Well, that old Naruto is gone now, so don't keep your hopes up if you want him to show up again, I need to go now, Shizune-neechan, a two week training awaits for me." – Said Naruto storming off, leaving a wide-eyed Shizune with sadness on her eyes.

* * *

**--Meanwhile outside the corridor--**

Just as Naruto and Shizune was having their talk, Yuhhi Kurenai was passing by since she had to bring a report to the hokage about her mission that entailed a complex analysis on the villages around Konoha's economy and security situations. Just as she was about to enter the corridor that lead to the Hokage's office, she overheard voices that she recognized a female's voice belonging to Shizune and a male voice which looked like a grown up voice from Naruto.

While eavesdropping on the conversation, she was being taken aback little by little from what she was listening. Apparently Naruto was telling Shizune about the total waste of his three year training trip with Jiraya as well as a list of all his teachers and the lack of wanting to teach anything to the poor blonde. Now by hearing this, Kurenai was pissed beyond words, she somehow knew that Naruto would have a hard time with others because of the kyuubi, but to an extent to jeopardize his abilities and hinder his grown, that was just pure bullshit, might as well turn him into a civilian and that would a better thing to do. She was a little sad of the boy, upon hearing such sad words from his mouth, though. Naruto is Hinata's crush, because of the fact that Naruto would never quit anything and always show a happy smile on his face, but Kurenai shrugged that thought and concluded that Naruto just suffered too much in his life to try to even be happy about it.

Caught in wonderings, Kurenai realized that the conversation was over and Naruto was coming her way. Needing to act fast as to not arouse suspicions from an already pissed Naruto, she needed to think fast. By resorting to her specialty, he hid herself under a genjutsu and waited for Naruto to leave. Little did she know that Naruto already sensed her before.

As he opened the door that Kurenai was, he turned to the direction that Kurenai was hiding and began to stare at her, almost as daring her to come clean with the fact that she was eavesdropping on his conversation with Shizune. Kurenai, for her part, was hoping that the blonde was only double checking before he left, but what she listened, just pretty much ended any thought on that part.

"Kurenai-san, would you be so kind as to drop that low-level genjutsu, I'm actually surprised you would think that I wouldn't see through it, but then I guess that what everyone thinks of me as being weak, so you wouldn't be different". – Said Naruto as he continued to walk towards the exit, only to be stopped by the genjutsu mistress that was showing a bit of anger towards the blonde from thinking her of being that superficial and shallow.

"Naruto, I'm resented at that, you just accused me of being superficial just like everyone. I'm not like that at all". – Said Kurenai to the blonde a little surprised to see him turning up to her in the coolest manner and displaying another apathy look that showed to Kurenai that she was lying directly on his face.

"Kurenai-san, if what you said is true, then why would you resort to suchfa low level genjutsu and low level chakra one as well. Just answer me, were you with the pretension to be caught or you were hoping that I wouldn't be able to see through it, since my abilities with genjutsu wouldn't be sufficient". – Asked Naruto plain, simple and with the pressure of a thousand pound weight that seemed to smash through Kurenai's face like nothing else before. Now she was caught and she could do nothing about it, she realized now that she was in fact underestimating him by using such a pitiful technique and for how much she wanted to punch herself a few times, she couldn't change the fact that she just fave enough evidence to backup Naruto's claims.

"Naruto, I…" – She somehow couldn't open her mouth to say that he was right and she was once again cursing herself for it.

"Don't need to explain, Kurenai-san, I just got my answer." – Said Naruto foncluding the case and pretty brought down the hammer on the case.

As he continued to walk, he left yet another kunoichi wide eyed and sad. As Kurenai turned her back and walked through the corridor that lead to the Hokage's office, she saw Shizune, staring outside, more specifically, staring the blonde walking away from the building, heading towards the Hokage monument, a place which Naruto went pretty often.

Kurenai was feeling the exact same thing as Shizune. **GUILT**. She was angry at everyone who showed no effort on Naruto's part but she was also to blame, since she fid the exact same thing that everyone did and that was underestimate the blonde chunnin wannabe's abilities as a ninja. As Shizune turned to exchange glares with Kurenai, she noticed that something happened to her as well and she had a feeling that Naruto had something to do with it.

* * *

**--Back at the corridor--**

Shizune was once again wide eyed upon hearing about Kurenai's encounter with Naruto and how Kurenai just gave Naruto enough arguments to support his theory about everyone underestimating his abilities. She was about to shout at Kurenai if not for the fact that she also acted the same way concerning the blonde.

"I know what you're thinking, Shizune and I fanted to believe on the contrary, but it is true. We were all responsible for this fact, I just wished I could do something to remedy that, but I just can't think of anything on that manner. But what scared me the most was the looks on his eyes. It isn't the same Naruto I knew and that Hinata has a crush on. This new looks of his femonstrate sadness and disappointment as well as wave of determination. He changed a lot, probably more than the ones his age, but then again he suffered far worse than everyone combined that I just tremble in only thinking how much bad things happened to him and to just keep walking like he does, it's nothing less than admirable, won't you think, Shizune?"

"Yeah I do. At first I was terrified about seeing him like that. After all it was the old Naruto that brought Tsunade-sama back to Konoha and put her out of her sorrow. I know that he changed and became more matured because of it, but he's too young to be like he is now, if I didn't know him, I would assume that he was an experienced Anbu captain who thought the Third Shinobi War and survived. I'm scared of what he could become, Kurenai-san. The mind plays tricks on us and the Kyuubi doesn't help the situation, if he snaps, I don't know what would happen to him.

"Shizune, I believe that you are once again misjudging his abilities just like everyone has been doing". – Said Kurenai, so that once again Shizune became wide eyed at the kunoichi's explanation.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he is fifteen years old and has been keeping the demon at bay since he was born and here you are saying that the Kyuubi could make him suffer more than he already suffered throughout his existence. If that is true, than his life is condemned. I can see clearly now, Shizune. To him to grow as a ninja as well as keep the worst of the bijuu from tampering with his life, is one hell of an assignment that I don't think anyone would be able to do it. I just hope that the boy…no, that man can find happiness once in his life. Now, I have to deliver a report Shizune-san, so if you excuse me.

"By all means, Kurenai-san". – Said Shizune, as she turned to walk away towards the hospital. Meanwhile, she was once again lost in thoughts from Kurenai's words about Naruto and the Kyuubi. She was berating herself for the fact that she seemed to underestimate Naruto's abilities on a subconscious level, like it was common sense and now the only thing she wished was for Naruto to forgive her and move on.

* * *

**--At the Hokage's room--**

While the conversations were on, Kakashi was having his one with Tsunade and obviously the talk was about the blonde genin's new behavior and the late turn of events.

"What was all that, Hokage-Sama? What happened to Naruto?" – Said Kakashi as he was entering the office from the window.

"Don't annoy me, Kakashi, I am more perplexed than you, you know. Feel free to talk with him, because for what I know, in their last mission, something went bad and everyone blamed him for the failure and know he seems very pissed about it." – Sighed Tsunade, wondering what the hell happened with the once hyperactive ninja.

"I've looked in his eyes, hokage-sama. He's not the same Naruto as before. Something very serious happened to him, and I don't think the Kyuubi has anything to do with this situation. What could be the issue here?"

"Oh. Try to talk to him, he's either at Ichiraku's or talking to Umino Iruka. No, wait! That where the old Naruto would go, oh I don't know where he could be now, find him and talk to him and bring a report to me after that."

"Hai." - With that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, and appeared right in front of Ichiraku's Ramen, but he couldn't find him there. For once, Kakashi was having a hard time finding Naruto. He was not at Ichiraku's, Iruka hadn't seen him. After a couple hours of search and nothing of Naruto, he looked up and noticed the Hokage Monument with all the faces of the Kages, and remembered of his Sensei Namikaze Minato. He also sighed about thinking about the Yondaime's legacy as Itachi once said and the fact that Naruto may never be the same again. It was just at that moment that he spotted the one he was looking for sitting on the Yondaime's head, therefore, shunshining near him only to see the chakra paper cut in half and wet as well.

"So, Naruto, you have affinity with Wind and Water Type Jutsus. That's very good. Actually, in order to become a jounin, you must at least master two elements. It seems you are right on track." – Said Kakashi surprised that his student had two affinities already.

"Yes, I noticed". – Said Naruto, still staring at the village that he pledged alliance to, even though he had a couple of good memories and a lot of bad ones. But Konoha was his home and he would be damned before running away from it and become a missing nin.

"Naruto, why are you doing all this? Why are you acting like this? This isn't you, what happened?"

"I can answer your little questionnaire with one word: **tired**". – Summed it up Naruto, earning glanced from his sensei.

"Tired? Tired of what?" – Asked Kakashi one of the dumbest question anyone could be asking Naruto at the moment and he very well knew of, but he wanted to press Naruto so to know just what is up with him, but to his dismay, Naruto explained in a cool manner that Kakashi wondered where the old Naruto was.

"The fact is, Kakashi-sensei, I'm fed up with everyone regarding me as weak, a dead-last, I'm fed up about everyone I know underestimate my abilities, I'm tired about those who vowed to teach me how to be a good shinobi, resorted to being a hypocrite and just teach me the basics. Basically, I concluded that if I am to become strong, I'm on my own, so I'm going to train by myself since at least I won't be depending on people that due to different circumstances, stop teaching me and turn to teach others. So I'm alone in this field". – Said Naruto, now literally beating Kakashi with just words, a feat that Kakashi never would have expected from Naruto.

"I can very well try to lie to you Naruto and say that what you are saying is complete bullshit, but the fact is you're right. At least for my part, I ended up teaching you the tree walking exercise and nothing else, I'm sorry". – Actually, the council was to blame for that since they wanted for Kakashi to teach only the Uchiha, but he didn't want Naruto to know that and then wanting to go after them, but little did he know that Naruto knew the truth.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're in no need to vow for the council, ok. I know that they forced you to train the traitor, so stop trying to protect them, you're in no need for such a thing. I'm not going after them, if you were afraid of that, but I also know that Jiraya didn't do shit with me and he was in no pressure from anyone, since he is a sannin. But I can't sit here and depend on a teacher to be strong, because if I do that, I can guarantee that I would be a genin for my whole life".

"If you want, I could train you better?"

"Thanks but no thanks. Even though you are the only one that taught me anything besides Iruka-sensei, I vowed to train for myself for now on". – Said Naruto acknowledging the fact that Kakashi was the only one who didn't think less of him.

"I see. So, the chunnin exams, I believe you can very well pass without much trouble, and becoming a chunnin, you are on the right way to live your dream, right?" – Asked Kakashi, being almost certain that no matter how he is changed, he never would abandon his dream of becoming Hokage.

"Yes, but what my dream is and what you think, it's pretty different things. You see, becoming a chunnin diminish the path to become what I dream of, but it's not the position of hokage I want anymore". – Said Naruto, this time making Kakashi drop his jaw so much that even with his mask everyone could see that.

"You don't want to become hokage anymore?"

"No I don't. The hokage position means having to take crap for granted and I happened to swallow too much bullshit to actually want any more of that. Also, I wouldn't believe for a second that I would have the same respect as the other Hokages, being the kyuubi container and being known as the knucklehead. So I decided to become an Anbu instead and be of service for Konoha behind the curtains, at least this way I don't have to deal with hypocrisy and political bullshit.

"I see. Well, I'm pretty sure you have a lot to do Naruto, so I'm out of here. Just so you know, if you need help in anything, just let me know, okay?"

"Sure thing, Kakashi-sensei and thank you, along with Iruka-sensei, you guys were the only ones who didn't leave me for granted and didn't underestimate me, I appreciate that."

"Don't need to do that, Naruto. You'll be a great shinobi and I'll see the chunnin exams, so make me and Iruka proud, okay?" – Said Kakashi smiling at the man that was once his student.

"Oh and if you see Sakura, tell her that I'll be leaving the team for practice and may never return. And in case she asks about it, just tell her that she got what she wanted, I'm out of her life". – Said Naruto.

"Very well, Naruto. I'm off, see you and good luck on the training". – Said Kakashi, vanishing in a swirl of leaves, just after sighing about Team 7 as being the one that displayed the worst teamwork in Konoha's history of shinobis.

* * *

**--With Naruto--**

Then, Naruto got up from where he was sitting and felt the sudden wind breeze that appeared, washing away any sorrow on his part and further improving his already high determination in order to train until exhaustion and become a real shinobi, one who wasn't afraid to do what needed to be done, one who could show fear to his enemies just with his presence, one that could very well demonstrate that pure determination and will power can overcome all the adversities. As he was returning to the village, he was becoming more determined to change his life as it is and improve his shinobi abilities for good.

* * *

**--Sakura's house--**

After leaving Naruto at the Hokage Monument, Kakashi went to Sakura's house to tell her regarding Naruto's choice and the future of Team Kakashi. Kakashi at first didn't want to see Naruto like that, but he figured that eventually everyone have to grow up and therefore he was relieved that Naruto was no longer a child, but a man that actually know what he needs and is very well on the way to conquer his dream. As he reached Sakura's house, he sighed as he was the one to bring the sad news for her but he figured that since he was the jounin sensei of the team it was his responsibility and no ones. So, he knocked a couple of times until Sakura answered.

"Sakura, are you home?" – Knocked Kakashi.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei, what do you need?"

"I've come to talk to you about the future of team Kakashi"

"Future? What do you mean?"

"Our team is going to return a three man group." – Said Kakashi with his stoic face while Sakura was figuring that Sai would be the one that be out, since he in theory was just a substitute for Sasuke.

"Oh! So Sai won't be joining us, then?" – Said Sakura

"It's not Sai who's leaving the squad, Sakura, Naruto is."

"Huh!? Why would he leave?" – Asked Sakura perplexed. She was wondering why the hell did Naruto left Team 7 for and instantly remembered about his sudden turn of behavior at the Hokage's office. Sure Naruto was a pain in the ass to handle and always put the team in difficult situations, but never did she think that Naruto would be leaving her.

"He asked Tsunade-Sama to give him a two-week training period alone, in order for him to pass the chunnin exams that will be held in exact two weeks from today."

"The chunnin exams? Surely, he doesn't realize that two weeks wouldn't be enough for him to be prepared. I don't think he will ever be prepared to the pass the exams, he always gets in the way of things, always screw up. He is such a BAKA! He abandoned us, just like Sasuke did". - Said Sakura fuming inside since she wanted to have a few words with the knucklehead.

"Sakura, I would advise you not to use such words on him. You don't know what Naruto went through in life. As a matter of fact, no one understands what Naruto went through, and I know you are aware of his situation. And he is just starting where he left, since he left with Jiraya-sama to train for three years, so he is becoming a chunnin, just like the rest of the Rookie 9".

"Kakashi-sensei, how can you defend his actions. I know about his burden, but there's no reason for him to leave us like he did. Well, at least after he gets the chunnin position, will he return with us?" – Asked Sakura to Kakashi, before seeing the look that her sensei was giving her and thought for the worst.

"This may not sound good for you to hear, but he doesn't want to become a part of the team anymore."

"Why not?" – Asked Sakura, being more than mad of the blonde.

"Actually, he told Hokage-sama that Team Kakashi can very well take care of ourselves as well as the fact that he was through with all your complaints and guilt charges on him. I actually agree with him in his decision, he was never appreciated to begin with. Sasuke almost killed him three years ago and now you blames him for the failure of the mission, but as I seen the report, it seemed that you weren't so helpful either, Sakura. Oh and he wanted to tell you a specific message. Would you like to hear it?" – Asked Kakashi.

Sakura was now out of her mind. Not only Naruto abandoned her but also Kakashi was backing him up. Surely, she didn't do anything to help on the mission seeing as she had to be saved from Yamato because she was knocked unconscious when Naruto four tails threw him with chakra towards her direction. Now, Naruto gave her a message and she could very well tell him to go to hell right now, but told Kakashi to tell her.

"Spell it out. What is it that idiot wanted you to tell me about?"

"He asked me to tell you that you got what you wanted and that he's out of your life for good." – Right now, Kakashi said with so enthusiasm to Sakura that he immediately felt better. He was disappointed at Sakura for being so selfish as believing that she was the victim.

Now Sakura, since the beginning of the academy, criticized Naruto. When the news reached her ear, suddenly, a sense of sorrow ran through her mind and she became surprised. Now that she thought about it, Naruto was the only one who was there for her even though she did nothing but either scream at him or punch him in the face. She never paid attention to Naruto's feelings at all, in fact the only thing she cared about was either Sasuke or getting Sasuke back from the hands of the snake sannin. She was feeling guilt, but it was over now, because Team 7 would never be the same again. Kakashi noted that Sakura felt guilty and said:

"It's such a shame to lose a partner like Naruto, because of a stupid situation, as it was. But now the damage is done. I hope that Naruto can move on in the near future. Honestly, and trust me Sakura, with the sharingan, I can read any person's emotions, and I can tell that's going to be a while for him to forgive what happened. For your information, he even gave up the dream of becoming hokage."

"Because of me?" – Said Sakura surprised. Before she was feeling like a punch went through her face but now it that was true, there wasn't enough pain in the world that could describe someone shattering another person's dream on a subconscious level.

"No, not only you but because of everyone. He said that being the Kyuubi's container and known as the hyperactive knucklehead ninja of Konoha, he would get the respect that Tsunade-sama and the previous hokages have and had."

"So, what is his dream now?"

"ANBU. Now, Sakura I have to go take care of the formalities. We are expected at Tsunade-sama's office tomorrow at 6. Bye." – Said Kakashi after shunshining away.

Even though Sakura couldn't comprehend the changes that will occur in her life as a ninja, she managed to conclude that both her teammates Sasuke and Naruto left her. Sasuke left because he wanted to gain power in order to kill his brother, one day. And now, Naruto left, not because he wanted anything. In fact, she knew that he left because of her and, therefore, tears starts falling down her face and she don't know what to do. Her once pride of being apprenticed by the great medic-nin Tsunade got through to her and her ego was getting as big as Sasuke if not bigger, but now she couldn't feel better at all, it was like a part of her was missing and she couldn't for a fact decide what to do. She was considering talking to the Hokage about it but shrugged off since she already knew what happened. One thing for sure, Sakura's pride just went downhill.

Sakura decided to take a walk to see if she could take her mind out of Naruto, but she couldn't and the tears that she let fall for Sasuke when he left now returned and she was feeling cold once again, she was feeling useless once again, like she didn't in whole three years. Sakura, since Naruto left, received a shower of arrogance after being announced the apprentice of the Hokage, since only Shizune was and she would be on the same level of authority.

Since then, she berated people for it, literally shoving on their faces the fact that she was the apprentice of the Hokage and that everyone had to follow her orders. In fact, she was beginning to behave just like Sasuke and his whole 'Im an Uchiha' and 'I deserve this and that'. Even Ino, who was once her best friend, abandoned her and went on her way. But due to the fact that Ino was a medic-nin just as Sakura, she had to obey her orders, but at least she wasn't her friend anymore.

Now, Sakura was thinking about all the times she showed the Hokage's authority and she wished she could turn back in time. She somehow wished that Sasuke and Naruto were with her this moment and reassure her, or at least rise her confidence a little bit. Without knowing, she ended up on the hospital, since the track from her house to the hospital was memorized inside her mind since she did that all day. Deciding to try and talk to Ino, since the blonde kunoichi up to a time was her best friend. Since she was the one attending today, Ino was seen walking between the rooms in as to check the patients. It was easy to Sakura to spot her and begin the talking.

"Hi Ino, how is going?" – Asked Sakura, with all the innocence possible so as to not show that she was an arrogant kunoichi who did nothing that boss around and show her arrogance throughout the hallway. But Ino was far from seeing that in Sakura. For a long time, all Sakura did was berate her saying she was the apprentice of the Hokage.

"What do you want Sakura-_sama_?" – Reported Ino almost saluting the hokage herself, but in the most angry manner, showing to Sakura just how despicable her presence was to the others. Sakura upon hearing the suffix, became wide-eyed in sadness, it was like she was brainwashed and couldn't remember what happened, but started looking down since she deserved the poor treatment.

"Please don't call me Ino-chan, I'm sorry about all the times I showed authority when I never had in the first place. I'm your age and a chunnin as well. I was so caught up on the fact that Hokage-sama nominated me as her apprentice that I started to behave arrogant and bossy, when actually I'm not even close to earn such respect". – Said Sakura, almost bursting in tears for such a thing.

Now Ino for her part was looking at the eyes of her once best friend trying to look for deception, but couldn't find none. Something must have happened to her to be like this. Ino decided to let go of the hate for a little bit and let the old friend inside again.

"Sakura-chan, since Naruto left you're nothing but an arrogant bitch who behaved like the Uchiha, believing that you had the authority from the hokage. But I can see that you realized that and that you're trying to remedy that. Also I believe that you wanted to talk to me about something. Come on let's take a cup of coffee and relax a little bit". – Said Ino, seeing the sudden cheer appearing in Sakura's face.

"Thank you, Ino-chan" – Said Sakura, as the girls went to the vending machine and each picked their choice of coffee and started the conversation that's being bugging her.

"Okay, Sakura-chan, what you wanted to talk about?" – Ino decided to start the conversation since Sakura was at first reluctant to tell.

"It's about my team. Naruto left team 7". – Said Sakura.

"WHAT!? Why did he do that?"- Said Ino, thinking why the hell did Naruto decided to abandon team 7.

"According to Kakashi-sensei, he asked to Tsunade-sama, time for him to train to the chunnin exams. Also our last mission was not accomplished and I and Yamato couldn't stop blaming him for the failure, berating him on the entire trip home. Naruto changed Ino-chan. I can't see the old Naruto anymore, this one is determined, reserved. When we briefed the mission to Tsunade-sama, he took all the responsibility for the failure of the mission". – Said Sakura, explaining the details.

"Well, Sakura-chan, since you wanted my opinion, I can say that Naruto was really fed up with you and your berating him all the time. You remember at the academy, we didn't stop beating him because of Sasuke and while you were in his team, you didn't stop beating him and calling him names. I mean that isn't so much a person can take and doesn't do anything about it".

"Yeah, but Kakashi-sensei told me that Naruto doesn't want to be in my life anymore and come to think about, he was there for me even though I never was there for him and it hurts really much. I don't know what to do to take this pain away". – Said Sakura squeezing the place where her heart was located.

"Sakura-chan, times heals all wounds. Just wait and see what happens. Right now, there is nothing you can do about it. If what you said is true, then leave this thing be and when the time comes, try and talk to him. Now, Sakura-chan I have to go back to my shift, but if you want to talk about it, I'm here okay?" – Said Ino with a smile. "Ok, Ino-chan, thank you."

* * *

**--Back at her place at night--**

Right now, it's 2:00 in the morning and Sakura still was awake, thinking only of Naruto and the mess she created. In fact, Sakura could not fall asleep at all. When the alarm clock biped 6:00 am, she remembered it was time to go Tsunade-sama's office for Team Kakashi's next assignment. The new team seven arrived at Tsunade's office, Sai and Kakashi appeared from a twirl of leaves and Sakura knocked on the door, two minutes later, for Kakashi to report.

"Team seven reporting for duty, Hogake-sama."

Tsunade forgot for a moment that Naruto wasn't on this team anymore and asked of his whereabouts and immediately corrected herself, however at hearing the name, Sakura started to look down and feel sad for what happened. The reason why Sakura was sad wasn't entirely because of Naruto, but Sakura couldn't figure out why she was crying. It was most because of Naruto, but the whole reason of it.

"I figured for your expression, that you've already heard of Naruto?" – Asked Tsunade, seeing the sad look coming for the apprentice. Actually, out of Kakashi and Sai, Sakura would naturally suffer the most, since she would assume that Sasuke left because of her.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Hang in there, Sakura. He is Naruto, after all. He'll never quit, because of a petty adversity such as this one."

This time was Kakashi to speak – "Actually, Hokage-sama, I managed to talk to Naruto and I can't say I agree with you anymore in respect to Naruto's new behavior. He changed, he's not the same anymore".

"I know he changed, Kakashi I could see his face and trust me he's not the same as before. But I want to know what caused him to change that and I know it wasn't just because of the mission".

"You're right Tsunade-sama, it wasn't. Naruto, since he graduated for the academy, was treated like the 'dead-last', the 'dobe', and for some reason everyone kept underestimating his abilities, every time believing that he needed to be protected. He was tired of being called Knucklehead all the time and the mission was just what was missing for him to snap and change like what you're seeing now".

"I see."

"Also, Hokage-sama, he no longer aspires to the hokage position". – Said Kakashi delivering the bomb.

"Escuse me!? Tsunade went in shock after such words from Kakashi.

"He told me that being known as the knucklehead as well as the kyuubi container, not only the civilians would question him but also the shinobi population. Also he didn't want to deal with more problems than he already faced, so he chose to become a part of Anbu special forces. A ninja that protects Konoha from behind the curtains." – Explained Kakashi.

"Unbelievable. I guess even for Naruto, sometimes the person just needs time for himself. But I don't believe that's all of it. I could see very well in his eyes, he's not backing out of this, this Naruto we never met before. He is not the always smile and happy face that we came to know. This is a reserved shinobi, someone who doesn't want attention for himself. I'm afraid that the Uzumaki Naruto that we knew, may never come again". – Said Tsunade, already coming in terms with the new facts.

"Hai, hokage-sama." – Said Kakashi agreeing with the Hokage's assessment.

"Well, I have a B ranked mission for team Kakashi to accomplish. Actually, is an escort mission. The client will arrive here in 30 minutes. He's the son of the Fire Daimyou and he is heading for a diplomatic mission with Iwa. Your job is to escort him, guard his back when in Iwa and return him to the Daimyou's house. Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-Sama – Kakashi promptly said, as he received the mission scroll from Tsunade."

"Everyone, meet me in one hour at the West Gate and pack for a period of two weeks travel." Sakura immediately thought back to her conversation with Kakashi and remembered that the Chunnin exams were to be held in two weeks, allowing her the opportunity to see the new Naruto, and will become of his training. With team kakashi all gathered at Konoha's west gate, the Daimyou's son, Kenshin, introduced himself to everyone and they went away, straight to Iwa.


	3. Training

**

* * *

**

Summary: What would happen if Naruto, now 15 years old and still a genin, grew tired of the fact that everyone in Konoha considers him as being the most hyperactive knucklehead ninja of the hidden village. What if, all of a sudden, Naruto becomes serious about his life as a ninja and starts to train harder than ever, accomplishing difficult and impossible missions and becoming an elite ANBU captain?

**Pairing Naruto x Anko**

**Chapter 3 – Training**

When the alarm clock bipped 6:00 am, Naruto knew that it was time for him to tain for the chunnin exams. So, he took his list of things to improve on that he, together with Shikamaru, made last night. Now, the old Naruto would call Shikamaru crazy, stating that such training was impossible to do, but then he also would underestimate himself for even thinking he couldn't do it.

**FLASHBACK**

As Naruto got out of the Hokage monument, he was walking through Konoha with his hands on his pockets and with the same old apathetic look. But on the inside, his mind was racing through all the possibilities. He would like to spend some time fighting his clones to improve taitjutsu and quick fighting skills as well as his ability to make quick decisions. After that came ninjutsu training. He also berated himself for having only two strong techniques (kage bunshin and rasengan) and when he asked Jiraya to teach him new ones, the pervy sage ended up saying that the rasengan needed to be perfected.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was walking the other way, muttering himself over some troublesome argument he had with Temari over the fact that they would be working together for the upcoming chunnin exams that will be held. When he looked up, he saw Naruto and instantly noticed something different from the blonde.

He remembered Temari saying that she heard some rumors regarding Naruto and that he changed 180 degress after the failure of the mission that involved Sasuke Uchiha's retrieval. Shikamaru never liked the Uchiha that much and he was the cause of his first failure as a chunnin. Now, he was responsible of changing the forever happy Naruto. That, Shikamaru thought was near impossible and too damn troublesome to be true. But as he saw the look of Naruto, he chose to confirm the suspicions.

"Hey Naruto, how's going?" Greeted Shikamaru, seeing Naruto slowly lifting his head like it was too boring to do, let alone answering the question and starting a conversation with the lazy chunnin.

"Fine Shikamaru."

"What you're up to?"

"Oh nothing much, just thinking about my training routine. I have only two weeks and I need to start the training tomorrow." Said Naruto, not even bothering to smile once to the lazy chunnin.

"Training for what?" – Shikamaru already knew of his attendance at the chunnin exams from Tsunade, but he didn't want to show Naruto that he already knew, since he would be one of the judges. But Shikamaru figured that Naruto would keep saying that he would become chunnin all the time as well as the whole 'one next step to become Hokage' speech that was almost Naruto's mantra, but little did he know that this isn't the old Naruto anymore.

"If you don't know Shikamaru, it would be pointless to explain it to you. Besides I'm busy right now. I need to plan a little schedule in order to better train myself. See ya." Said Naruto, earning glances from Shikamaru. Yep, he changed from water to oil. Shikamaru was in trance. Naruto didn't once tell him about the word Hokage and actually gave him a sarcastic remark.

"It's for the chunnin exams, isn't it?" Asked Shikamaru, wanting to hear more from the new Naruto. Shikamaru was getting more interest as the conversation was proceeding.

"You're a real genius, Shikamaru. It took you a while to come to that answer. But I guess you already knew didn't you? But then again why would you try and deceive me like that and not come clean about it on the spot. Would you perhaps thought that I wouldn't know that. Please, Shikamaru, I don't need this, okay. I'm out of here." Said Naruto with little to no emotion talk towards Shikamaru.

For Shikamaru's part, he was stunned. He did thought that Naruto wouldn't be able to see underneath the underneath but as he was saying with a cool voice, he was literally open his mouth in amazement thinking this is some of dream or something. Little did he know that Naruto actually resented those who underestimated him and that Naruto on the inside was once again fuming.

"Sorry about that, Naruto. I'm really am. Did you already come up with something like a schedule yet. Let me help you to make up for you". – Shikamaru was impressed at his friend's sudden change of aspects that he vowed to help him. Now, Shikamaru was considering that this chunnin exams would be interesting as hell.

"It's okay. I don't like to be underestimated, just keep that in mind Shikamaru. As to the schedule, I figured that since I have an affinity with Wind and Water Jutsus, it would be best for me to go at the Konoha library and study about it, but I was thinking of study precise chakra control, since I sincerely lack of and some fast taijutsu practice."

_'No doubt about it, he really changed up to the point where no one can recognize him anymore'_ - Thought Shikamaru, while looking at the new Naruto. "Say, Naruto, you want me to make a training schedule for you to keep up."

"What do you have in mind?" Naruto asked, keeping his guard down for a moment.

Shikamaru, then, wrote a list of subjects to study and practice and handled to Naruto. The list involved a period of 15 days training. It started with chakra control exercises within the three first days (Shikamaru also wrote some books for Naruto to pick), followed by two days studying the essences of Wind jutsus and weaknesses of such jutsu nature. Then, two days with wind chakra exercise and manipulation, followed by a collection of wind jutsus to learn and practice in three days period (On the list, Shikamaru suggested at least to master three wind techniques). The last part of the schedule involved water style essence and weakness for two days and water jutsu practice (also suggested three techniques) for the last two days. The last day is meant to Naruto rest for the chunnin exams.

"Let me see. Oh, I forgot to tell you. I want to train some taijutsu as well. So how about take one day of studying the essence of water jutsu, so I can, on the 14th day of my training, focus on martial arts with my clones."

"Ok, then, so since you will spend less time with water techniques, I suggest you try harder the two days available for this task."

"Easy. I just don't sleep at all, surely I can keep up with this routine."

"Hey Naruto, remember that this type of training is almost impossible to conclude, so try not to overdo it. If you're starting to get low on Chakra, rest a little bit. Whatever you do, in order to complete your training, you cannot use one full day for rest."

"I know that, Shikamaru. I'm actually surprised you cared so much" Said Naruto in a sarcastic manner, much to Shikmaru's dismay, figuring that this Naruto gained a little sarcastic behavior.

"Well, I was only trying to help you, but since you know what to do, I'll leave you be. I always found strange that you have such abnormal chakra capacity but that's another mystery that is Uzumaki Naruto. Anyway, I will be the judge of the chunnin exams and I will be seeing you personally. Since you don't like to be underestimated, I'm thinking about raising the grade limit for you to become a chunnin. You will be required to be more than just chunnin material to Konoha, you would have to be chunnin material up to my standards and I assure you it won't be easy." Said Shikamaru, challenging Naruto but no in a threatening level.

"The tougher, the better Shikamaru. I'll be seeing you then. Take it easy and say hi to Temari for me. Tell her that I want a match against her in fuuton ninjutsu afer I'm done with the chunnin exams." Said Naruto as he became to walk towards his apartment.

"I will. Wait…" – Said Shikamaru and already cursed himself for thinking that Naruto knew of Temari and him or not. _You changed to quite an interesting guy, Naruto, I'll be seeing you at the chunnin exams._

END FLASHBACK.

This time, Naruto didn't wear his black orange outfit. Instead he whore an outfit that he used when training with Jiraya that is black pants and dark gray blouse, since he made a decision to eliminate all the orange. In order to prevent cold looks from Konoha's population, Naruto jumped from roof to roof until he arrived in front of the Konoha Library. During his travel, he sensed the presence of all the Rookie 9 training, except for Sakura which could only mean that team Kakashi were on a mission outside of Konoha. Actually, Naruto improved his skills of chakra sense during his training with Jiraya.

Hyuuga Neji, family prodigy and now konoha jounin, activated his kekkei genkai and spotted a figure jumping from roof to roof and a very high speed even for his byakugan to follow, and knew right away who the speeder was. _Uzumaki Naruto_.

Neji gave a little laugh, stating he indeed have changed, as he was nothing like before. Than Neji was caught by surprise when he saw that Naruto was actually looking at him from a considerable distance away, with a indifferent expression in his face, though. Actually, everyone who knew him instantly thought the same thing as Neji. Neji came to know from rumors that Naruto would be participating on the next chunnin exams and he wanted to know how was his training with the sannin Jiraya. _I'll do everything to see Naruto's improvement in the exam._

When Naruto arrived in front of the library, he remembered his very words in reference to the library: _"Never would I step my foot in this hellhole"_. But he knew that if he wanted to grow as a ninja, he had no choice but to study konoha books. Once inside, Naruto handed to the librarian a list with all the books he'd be needing for his training.

"Excuse me, miss, can I have these books."

"Well certainly. Can I see your library card?"

"I don't have one. It's my first time here."

"Oh I see, so tell me your name, age and ninja rank for me to fulfill the necessary forms."

"Certainly. Naruto Uzumaki, genin of Konoha, 15 years old. Ok. All set. Now, let's get those books you requested, shall we." – Said the librarian as she instantly found all the books and handed to Naruto.

"Thanks, miss"

"Oh and Naruto, your time limit is in 20 days from now, ENJOY."

With that, Naruto exited the library, packed all the books in a scroll and went like a bullet to his home in order to start studying. What Naruto didn't know was that the librarian reported to lady Tsunade, a list of all the books requested by the new shinobi as a way of seeing if their shinobi would expand their knowledge.

* * *

**--At the Hokage's office--**

After reading the report, Tsunade was surprised that Naruto of all people would go to the library, but she realized that Naruto isn't the same as he was before, which frightened her a little bit. Right now she couldn't decide if she should feel happy or sad for Naruto. Happy because the blond shinobi would finally follow the right tracks and sad because he isn't the same overconfident Naruto who convinced her of becoming godaime hokage. She was really confused. At that moment, Shizune entered the room and saw the Hokage lost in thought.

"I presume it's about Naruto." Started Shizune. She already told Tsunade about Naruto's 'training' from Jiraya and was scared of her master, Tsunade was fuming with anger at the toad sannin, since he was practically the reason why he was like he is now, but after some time she calmed herself, since she was getting eager to see the new Naruto.

"You're a genius, how could you tell." Said Tsunade with sarcasm, actually in the same way as Naruto's new characteristic.

"He is going to be strong, Tsunade-sama. I don't know but when he talked to me and Kurenai yesterday morning, there was something that he did to us, that we just couldn't see the old Naruto anymore. He was able to beat the two of us just with words. And to believe that he is at least ten years younger than us. Rest assured, Tsunade-Sama, he will be strong, mark my words for it."

"Do you think he'll ever forgive Sakura and Yamato for what they done to him?"

"Hard to tell. He always smiled at tense situations. And since I saw that look on his face I was paralyzed. I've never seen him like that. The events that succeeded really changed his way of thinking. He is not the brat we all know. He is a man now. He is a ninja of the Leaf." Said Shizune with a hint of new found proud when talking about her brother.

After wonderful words given by Shizune, Tsunade suffered a small surge of adrenaline in her body. She could not wait to see how strong he will become at the chunnin exams and in the future.

* * *

**--At Naruto's apartment--**

After three hours of studying chakra control, Naruto decided to take a break and try a chakra focus exercise that he learned from the book. The exercise consisted on focusing chakra on the user's feet sticking them to the wall, then climbs up the wall until you reach the ceiling and stay upside down for one hour.

At first, Naruto thought it was impossible. But in the middle of the exercise, he realized that it was not that hard, that he could hold on much longer than one hour. After two hours, Naruto felt his legs trembling so he released it and fell smoothly on this apartment floor. The emotion he felt when he completed the exercise was overwhelming. When he went to see the exercise in the book, he noticed that on the next page, it showed a score (If you manage to stay one hour hanged, you have chakra control equivalent to a mid-chunnin level. If you went up to two hours, you are at least high chunnin level.)

At the end of the first day, Naruto already have up to 65 effective chakra control. When he read the second book on the second day, he noticed that the focus now was using techniques. He learned how to use the correct amount of chakra for ninjutsus from all classes (from E to S), in order to save the largest amount of chakra possible.

Since Naruto had an explosive amount of chakra, if he managed to use just the necessary amount of chakra for each technique, it would take a miracle for him to ever suffer from chakra exhaustion. When the second book was done, Naruto decided to experiment something he never tried before, doing Rasengan without the need of a shadow clone.

At first, he couldn't do it properly and the energy went unstable, breaking a little piece of the living room's wall. He remembered what the book said about channeling just the necessary amount of chakra in order to do it, not just trying to assume the quantity. The second time, he still couldn't do it completely, but the energy ball did appear on his hand.

The third time he completed the ball of energy completely and without the need for clones. On the third and final day of chakra control practice, the third and final book consisted on high jounin level chakra control and medical chakra control. He figured that he would be satisfied of having as much chakra control as a high level jounin, so he concentrated on the first part of the book. Safe to say that the third day was the hardest of all so far, because Naruto was having trouble to understand how effective was a high level jounin's chakra control.

The book seems to show two theories. One that the amount of chakra control is directly linked to the amount of chakra that a ninja has and the second is the effectiveness of the ninja's chakra control. If Naruto were to base on the first theory, he would be kage level, because of the excessive amount of chakra he have combined with Kyuubi's chakra. But since Naruto, because of his battle with Orochimaru, decided not to use the demon's chakra again, just his own, which by far passed kakashi's.

So, he decided to train according to the second theory. The book, after the theories, was divided in two parts, explaining the first and second theory, from history to practice. When Naruto reached the end of the book, he was marveled at all the information he gasped from.

"To believe that chakra control had so much information, I always thought that it was a simple thing that everyone could learn in a simple way. I must remember to thank Shikamaru for the books the suggested."

Naruto came to realize that out of the rookie 9, they were few he could actually be fund of. Shikamaru was one of them and possibly Neji, but he was not a part of the rookie 9, since he is a year older than Naruto. When he reached for the last exercise of the book, he noticed that the completion consisted of performing 10 kage bunshins and engage in a fight with all of them at the same time for a period of one hour and a half.

"Oh! One hour and a half. That's even possible?" – Questioned Naruto.

Remembering his training with Jiraya, longer he ever reached was one hour and with five shadow clones. It was beginning to get dark outside, and he knew that if he wanted to conclude chakra control exercise, he would have to go outdoors. So he went to the place that, other than kakashi and the third hokage, no one knew of, so he could get some privacy. Naruto went to the Hokage Mountain, and performed the necessary hand seals, screaming with such joy: **KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU.**

All of a sudden 10 Naruto clones appeared from nowhere and turned facing Naruto. He realized that the exercise didn't only involve chakra control training but also taijutsu training so he chose to use the weights he used when training with Jiraya. Then, Naruto turned to see his 10 clones smiling at him like they already knew what they were to do. Naruto for his part was looking at each of them studying each of their reactions and surprisingly to say that even though they were clones, they were some of them that were smiling, while the rest of them were like the new Naruto, looking at the original with determined face.

"Ok, clones, you know what to do. Come at me and fight."

"Let's rock". Said all the clones screaming together as they charged against the real Naruto.

* * *

**--Meanwhile around the Hokage Monument--**

Neji was doing patrol duty near that area, and with his byakugan, he spotted 11 Narutos on top of the Hokage Mountain and gasped in surprise. He's actually trying that exercise. "_I've never seen anyone actually able to complete the exercise, let alone go even further_".

Actually, Shikamaru was partnering with Neji for patrol duty and laughed at Neji's surprised expression and said:

"You know I also wasn't sure he could do it when I suggested that book for him."

"You what!?"

"Yeah, me and Naruto formulated his train schedule for two weeks."

"Oh, I see"

"He's not the same as before, Neji."

"That's a fact. I'm in fact worried that he can be stronger than I am."

"I think he will be stronger than anyone in this village. He actually has affinity with wind and water jutsus, which already prove that he can become at least jounin. If he manages to control the fire element, he will be unstoppable."

"I better train harder. He won't beat me ever again."

Shikamaru could only laugh about it. Even if Naruto changed his personality, he still could make everyone inspired to do their best. "_Hell, even I suffer a burst of excitement, when I look at him, so troublesome' – Thought Shikamaru._

* * *

**--Back with Naruto--**

Half an hour has passed since the beginning of the fight and not a single sweat appeared in his face. He was feeling more alive than ever, being able to anticipate every move the clones charge at him and attacking as well. Since the main training was about chakra control, his clones would take the attack but did not evaporate, since Naruto was channeling chakra as a way of using the Kage Bunshin technique. The exercise consisted on a constant channeling of chakra in order to keep the bunshins for disappearing after contact.

After the time limit for the exercise approached, Naruto signed for every clone to stop at his tracks and then released the technique. He was glad that he managed to complete a high jounin level exercise and had to admit that he was a little tired. After all, he just trained equivalent to ten shinobis, since the clone's memory went to him after disappearing.

Remembering to Shikamaru's suggestion, Naruto went straight to bed and fell asleep soon after. The first part of the training was complete and now was time for elemental jutsu training.

* * *

**--On the next day--**

On the next day, Tsunade was looking at the report on guard duty from Neji an Shikamaru over and over again. She didn't believe that Naruto would be so caught up on his training that he would consider that exercise. The fact tha he succeded it was a feat itself. Tsunade just couldn't wait for the results of Naruto's training so she requested Neji and Shikamaru's presence immediately at her office.

"You called us, Hokage-sama?" Prompted Neji first.

"Yes, I did. I've seen your report on yesterday's guard duty and noticed that you guys spotted Naruto performing high level jounin chakra control exercise."

"Precisely, Hokage-sama." Shikamaru said slowly.

It was tough just to read what was said at the report, but it was tougher to actually hear a jounin and chunnin confirm the situation. She did know that Naruto took that book with the exercise, but she didn't know that he would try to perform that exercise let alone complete it. Right now what scared her the most, was that with all experience she had by seeing other shinobis, she could not grasp the full extent of Naruto's grow. For her, Naruto will be forever an unsolved puzzle that even Shikamaru wouldn't be able to solve. But that was a good thing, she thought. He has high probabilities of becoming Konoha's strongest ninja alive at some time in the future. Just by imagining what would Naruto show for her, she was biting her lips just bearing what he could accomplish. Never in her life, had she suffered from anticipation. Meanwhile, Neji and Shikamaru were staring at Tsunade, when she was thinking the whole time.

"Ahh! Escuse me, Tsunade-Sama, did you call us here just to comment on the report or is it anything else?" Said Shikamaru slightly bothered by the Hokage spacing out.

'What? Oh sorry about that, I was caught in my thoughts. Yes, Neji, I want you to report to me about Naruto's training, but only after the chunnin exams. Got it?"

"You want me to spy on him?"

"Any problem with that, jounin?" Said Tsunade showing her scary face to Neji

"N.Not at all Hokage-sama. Wait, but why only after the chunnin exams?" He mused. '_But why is she asking me to do that?'_

"Call it intuition, if you want, by I'm not sure if he's going to show his full power at the exam and I need to know what he can do, in order to know what to do to him".

"But Hokage-sama, it will be very easy for him to know I'm spying on him." Said Neji remembering the event that Naruto was looking at him from a distance.

"Explain yourself Hyuuga. With your byakugan, you can see almost the entire village, just how can he sense you're watching him." Now this had even Shikamaru was interested, just how could Naruto see that Neji was spying on someone?

"Four days ago, I saw Naruto heading to the library jumping from roof to roof and I can tell you that the distance between him and me was almost two miles. He actually looked in my direction and keep looking at me with such apathy looks, just like he knew it was me. I believe that he could sense someone's chakra from a distance, Hokage-sama."

"Really? This must have been Jiraya's doing. He must have taught Naruto some tracking skills. Damn him. Well, do your best, think of it as a stealth exercise."

"Hai, Hokage-Sama."

"So, Shikamaru, do you have any information about the new Naruto, that you would like to share with us?"

"Only that he has affinity with both fuuton and suiton techniques." Told Shikamaru, actually telling them a truth, but not the truth that he was responsible for setting his schedule for his training.

"That Kakashi already told me. Well both of you dismissed. Neji I'm couting on you."

"Hai, Hokage-Sama." Said both of them as they vanished afterwards.

* * *

**--At Naruto's house--**

Back at Naruto's house, he was now caught studying the history of fuuton jutsus and its essence, so focus that he didn't sense Neji spying on him. Since Naruto didn't want to go out just yet, he ordered some pork ramen from Ichiraku's by sending a small toad to the place. After 20 minutes, Ayame rang the bell of Naruto's apartment and delivered Naruto's order to him.

"Thank you Ayame-san."

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Ayame was blushing madly. She knew Naruto and at first she still saw the kid that always ate ramen, but this one was different, this was a man and he was handsome as hell. She blushed madly, while having perverted thoughts of the blonde shinobi. After that, she left his apartment and made a mental note to be the one delivering the next time just to see him again.

At that time, Neji could've sworn that Naruto have seen him where he was hiding, but than decided that he couldn't notice me without Neji aware of it. Naruto, after finishing his meal continued reading his book but he couldn't help but wonder why Neji was spying on him. In fact, he knew that he couldn't train in a secret manner but to actually put a jounin to see what Naruto was doing was something Naruto didn't expect from Tsunade.

"Oh well! I think I've scared everyone with my new way of thinking" Concluded Naruto.

Since elemental training was new to him, it took a little longer to understand than the chakra control exercises, but when the day became night, Naruto managed to cut a leaf in half, being this one of the exercises of the book. The book said that in order to have full control of fuuton chakra, a ninja would have to slice water current. All he could think of was to practice it just outside Konoha where a waterfall was located.

Actually, Naruto was ahead of his schedule, since he only needed one day to fully learn fuuton chakra and now was doing wind chakra exercises. He figured that he could practice one more day of Taijustu, in order to complete his schedule for the chunnin exams.

On the next day, Neji was having trouble finding Naruto, since Naruto wasn't inside the city, actually he was training outside the walls of the hidden village. At the waterfall, Naruto stands on top of a rock in the middle of the waterfall, in order to start practicing the last and most difficult exercise he ever had to do. When he put his hands almost touching the water current he already was injecting a little wind chakra into the current, not quite cutting the water but he could see, after one hour of practice, a small gap caused by his chakra. After amazing four yours trying, Naruto managed to slice completely the water current, now possessing full control over fuuton chakra.

Since he still had three hours left of practice, he made some hand signs and screamed once again: **KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU. **This time, 20 Narutos showed up. This time, Neji sensed a presence outside Konoha and found the clones charging at Naruto, with all they got. Neji was furious with Naruto.

"Damn you Naruto! You were here the entire time, I was looking for you all day."

Neji was now hidden behind a big oak tree to analyze Naruto's fight with his clones but something wasn't quite right about Naruto's chakra. When Neji used his byakugan, he noticed the presence of fuuton chakra floating throughout Naruto's tenketsus.

"When did he manage to control his first affinity so quickly, and without me noticing? He must have mastered, while I was looking for him. Damn!"

Naruto did a section of defensive taijutsu with his clones, up to the point that he could properly defense and minimize the blow, only by using defensive taijutsu. After some time, the sky went dark and Naruto went straight home to rest, same as Neji. Since the next day was meant for Naruto to complete the waterfall slice exercise, he decided to take it easy and read the collection of fuuton jutsus from one of the scrolls he picked at the library. From the list of fuuton techniques, Naruto managed to choose three techniques that would best fit his needs:

**FUUTON SUIGADAN NO JUTSU (1)**: Technique similar to Hyuuga's ultimate defense, but served as offense. To perform the technique, first the ninja have to make the following a sequence of hand signs, then the ninja needed to perform a spin as well as expel wind chakra from his body, in order to create a powerful hurricane.

**FUUTON RASENGAN**: This technique Naruto invented. It involved the real rasengan with little fuuton chakra in it, creating a ball of energy with a cutting ring around it. Very effective.

**FUUTON DAITOPPA NO JUTSU (2)**: A breaktrough. It's when the ninja put the hand close to his mouth and blow a large gust of wind, leveling almost anything in its way.

Naruto had three days to master all these techniques. So he used the rest of his free time, to meditate about the upcoming training period and went to sleep afterwards, not before noticing Neji's image, reflecting from the moonlight. When Naruto woke up, a huge burst of extasy ran through his body and he was shaking from all the excitement he was felling. Today, he is beginning to add new jutsus to his arsenal. After breakfast and a quick cold shower to wake up, he went straight to his favorite training ground, on top of the Hokage Mountain. Hoping that Neji wouldn't spy on him, Naruto decided to get there at maximum speed to prevent his spy from following him, which actually worked, he did not sensed Neji's presence anywhere.

It was time for Naruto's first jutsu, the fuuton suigadan no jutsu. Before he begin, he looked at the book to memorize the hand seals sequence, which wasn't all that difficult at all. After a few tries, without channeling chakra, Naruto did perfectly the seals needed for the technique. Next, was his time to try performing the jutsu. This time, Naruto had some trouble, since his spin movement wasn't quite as accurate as the scroll said, slowing his training a bit. After having another peak at the scroll, he understood the movement. When he tried the next time, a big and strong hurricane appeared around Naruto, but something still wasn't right, since the hurricane wasn't going anywhere, so what Naruto needed to do was to focus more on fuuton chakra in order to control the hurricane and he was good to go.

* * *

**--Meanwhile with Neji--**

Neji was searching for Naruto nearby, and he saw what appeared to be a big tornado coming towards him, obligating him to dodge it. But, because of the strong wind, Neji was thrown away and landed with his back on a tree, breaking some of his bones.

"Ahhhh! So much pain." Screamed Neji."

Neji had to crawl into Konoha hospital and luckily for him, Tsunade was visiting the facilities and noticed that Neji was crying in pain at the reception.

"How can I help you, Neji-san?" Asked the attendant.

"My back hurts like hell, I need a doctor A.S.A.P.

"What the fuck happened Neji?" Tsunade appeared out of nothing, scaring Neji and increasing his pain a bit. "Hurry, put him in a room for examination. I'll personally heal him."

"Certainly Tsunade-Sama."

After fixing Neji's broken ribs, Tsunade asked:

"Let me guess, Naruto??"

"I think so. I was searching near the Hokage Moutain for him, when a tornado appeared out of nothing and I had to dodge, but because of the strong wind, I went flying and hit my back pretty hard."

"It seems that Naruto is training fuuton techniques, but creating a tornado is something I've only read in books. I never saw before."

Because of the extent of Neji's wound, he stayed at the Hospital for the day and left the day after.

**--Back with Naruto--**

Meanwhile, at the Hokage monument the entire ground was covered with holes, Naruto was caught sweating and laughing like a maniac. He was so thrilled that he forgot the daitoppa jutsu.

"Oh, I remember picking tree fuuton jutsus. Ah there is the daitoppa. Ok, so the book said to focus fuuton chakra in your lungs, put a hand close to the mouth and release all the air accumulated in your lungs, filled with chakra". Naruto managed to make quite a strong wind in his first try, but he knew he could make a stronger, if he concentrated better.

It was the last day of fuuton training, and he, after completing the fuuton rasengan and the daitoppa, Naruto let his brain work_. "What if I use a shadow clone to pump more fuuton chakra into the rasengan, there is a high possibility that I can create a much more powerful rasengan which can manage to cut the object more than one time." _

Not having second thoughts, Naruto created a single kage bunshin without the need for seals and channeled the fuuton rasengan together with his clone, causing the transformation of a big shuriken with the energy ball in the middle. Naruto, because of the strong wind leaving his hands fought to remain standing as the giant wind shuriken as now circulating his hands.

"Now, time for a target". Said Naruto, spotting a few trees right in front of him. As the technique touched one of the trees, a huge typhoon circulated around the strike area, cutting and slicing everything that was near.

Shikamaru, who was the nearest from the area, heard the huge noise and looked up only to see the giant typhoon still in full power and Naruto smiling right near it. Naruto fell happily on the floor grasping how much his power improved and thinking of a name for his ultimate jutsu:

"I think I'll call this technique FUUTON RASENSHURIKEN. Yes, that's a great name."

After regaining his forces, Naruto went home to sleep. Even Naruto, whose chakra was unlimited, was beginning to feel some pain in his body, because of the excessive training so he went to bed as soon as he reached his home.

But one thing was passing through his mind, about a small note on fuuton chakra book that said that the ninja also can channel wind chakra in weapons, just like Sarutobi Asuma's twin knifes. If Naruto managed to join ANBU forces, he would get a katana and would be a great advantage to him if he could learn kenjutsu (weapon fight). Since the last part of the training involved suiton jutsus, Naruto was looking forward to using this type of jutsu for defensive, other than offensive. But, that would have to wait, the blond shinobi needed to rest more than he usually does, so he set up his alarm clock to 10:00 am, instead of 6:00 am.

"Yeah, that would do it." Said Naruto, almost snoring.

The next day, as the alarm ringed, Naruto woke up. He managed to rest just enough to regain his 100 energy. Putting a white T-shirt and his usual black pants, he picked up the books about fuuton jutsus and started reading all of them.

**--10 days time skip--**

­10 days went by as Naruto started his training. Kakashi, Sai, Sakura and Kenshin already left Iwa and were heading straight to the Fire Daimyou's house, the last part of their mission. It involved a two day travel, since they were moving in a slow pace.

Suddenly, Kenshin turned to talk to team kakashi and wondered where was the last member of the Team, since his father, the Fire Daimyou, mentioned that the team who would be escorting him, would be a four man unit.

"So, Kakashi-san."

"What?"

"Didn't your team have a fourth member, where is he?"

"Actually, yeah there was. But the Godaime gave him another mission to attend." Well it wasn't totally true but the client didn't need to know that.

"Oh I see." Concluded Kenshin, but being an excellent observer, he noticed Sakura's sudden burst of sadness and decided not to comment about the subject anymore."

After a few miles travel, team kakashi escorted the Daimyou's son safely to his father's house and Kenshin thanked everyone for escorting him and said goodbye. There was only three days left for the Chunnin exams, so team kakashi decided to speed the travel back to Konoha, so they can watch Naruto's performance.

On the way back, Kakashi talked to Sakura:

"Sakura, what's on your mind?"

"You think he will ever forgive me, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hard to say, that guy is an enigma. You never know what he's thinking."

"Kakashi-sensei, be straight with me. What do you know of Naruto's training?"

"Only his jutsu affinities."

"Plural??"

"Yes, Naruto has affinity with Fuuton and Suiton jutsus."

"Really!! That's great...Oh what's the need, I don't expect to talk with him ever again, so I'm pretty much all alone, again."

"Sakura, what you're feeling right now, it's pretty much what Naruto felt his entire life."

"That may come as a surprise to you Kakashi-sensei, but I've never noticed how sad he really was until the day that Yamato and I just blamed him for everything that went wrong."

"I see. It really surprised me to know that Yamato would blame Naruto in such a way. By all means, it was most surprising, the fact that you blamed him for everything."

"On that day, I was so frustrated for not bringing back Sasuke-kun, that I blamed Naruto, instead of dealing with the failure myself."

"Now, it's too late, I'm afraid. From what I heard, he's already a whole different person, I don't think we'll ever get to see the old Naruto again."

This time, Sai, who didn't open his mouth to say anything, stepped in the conversation.

"Naruto-kun will get stronger like never before, he's going to be one of the greatest weapons of Konoha."

Needless to say both Sakura and Kakashi nodded in agreement.

* * *

**--Back at Konoha--**

Back at Konoha, Naruto was found at the same place he practiced the slice waterfall technique, but now he was standing on top of the river, completing his final suiton chakra exercise which involved making a little whirlpool for 15 minutes. Actually, Naruto already choose the techniques that he would like to master:

**SUITON SUISHUUHA NO JUTSU (3)**: after performing a sequence of hand seals, a wall of water would appear around the ninja, protecting him against attacks in all directions, but had a weakness. Once the ninja performed the technique, he wouldn't be able to see what the enemy would do next4. After the water protect the ninja, he or she can transform the barrier into a tsunami and throw at the opponent.

**SUITON SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU (5)**: An offensive attack. The ninja form water dragon and order to attack the enemy. The number of dragons would depend on the ninja's chakra used on the technique.

**SUITON GYORAI SHIN NO JUTSU (6)**: The real purpose of this jutsu was to stop the enemy's movement, since it would be required an evasive technique in order to dodge all of the water needles.

**SUITON UZUMAKI NO JUTSU (7): **This jutsu involve the use of wind chakra along with water surface, in other to create a whirlpool that can serve as a protection or as an attack.

Since all suiton techniques needed only knowledge of hand signs, other than attack positions, Naruto nailed all three techniques in just four hours, ending the training schedule he and Shikamaru made. Since he still had a day and a half to train, Naruto choose to release the chakra on this feet and relaxed at the lake. Swimming, diving, taking a little nap. He even henged a kage bunshin into a floating bed for cry out loud.

* * *

**--The last day of training--**

On the last day, Naruto decided to enjoy his bedroom more than ever and slept all morning. In the afternoon, Shikamaru decided to stop by to see how the training went, as well as pick up the books that Naruto picked at the library since someone important needed them. Actually, he was here to see Naruto but the god damn librarian asked him to pick up the books. _Troublesome._

"Oi Naruto, are you there?" Screamed Shikamaru, in order to see if the blonde was home.

"You don't have to scream, you know, I actually have neighbors." – Said Naruto in a sarcastic manner, much to Shikamaru's dismay at hearing an actual sarcastic comment from Naruto.

"Can I come in?"

"By all means, can I get you anything?"

"No thanks. So, Naruto, did you manage to complete our schedule."

"I sure did even though I thought that is was near impossible. I never knew such a lazy person such as yourself could come up with such a training. You actually gave a new meaning to the phrase 'those who can't do teach". Said Naruto, actually making Shikamaru laugh for the first time, from the funny/smart comment.

"hahhaha! Actually I didn't know what was I thinking when I did that schedule. Only a mad person would accomplish. Well come to think about it, only you could, since you are the most troublesome person I've ever met. Seriously, Naruto don't you rest ever in your life. If you stopped one second to just watch the clouds, you would see the beauty of it."

"I resent that, you know. Those books were really helpful, and for the last comment, I wouldn't manage to just stare at the clouds one minute, before I kill myself out of boredom. But then again only a lazy ass such as yourself would be able to just look at nothing and find something." Said Naruto smiling at his friend's mumbling something like 'troublesome blonde and his sarcastic remarks'.

"Yes, well, for as much as I want to continue with this interesting slash troublesome conversation, there is another thing I came here to talk to you about. Actually there were two things I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it Shikamaru?"

"Well, first of all the books you took were to be returned two days ago and you still didn't return it. The troublesome librarian asked me to pick them for her. I would prefer if you would be the one returning them, I'm not in the mood of driving my legs there again today and I'm considering a little nap sometime today." Said Shikamaru earning a lifted eye brow from Naruto, since Shikamaru was behaving well like Shikamaru behaved normally, LAZY.

"Hey, but she said I had 20 days. I know I have at least two more days with these books, not that I'm reading them anymore and I was considering in returning them first thing tomorrow morning." Said Naruto, scratching the back of his head in protest.

"Yeah, but a very important Jounin requested two days ago those books and they have preference, you know that. Personally I think it's damn troublesome that the librarian used me for such a thing, but since I was coming here anyway, but still is too damn troublesome and such a pain in the ass."

"Ok, Shikamaru, if you use the word 'troublesome' one more time, I might actually think that you rattle all your emotions as being troublesome. Come to think about it, all I hear is you saying troublesome, you know there are more words in the dictionary. I'll ask Gamatatsu8 to deliver the books for me, although I wished he didn't want any more chocolate bars, I have to think about getting more of them." Said Naruto, not at all paying attention to the look of wonder that Shikamaru was displaying."

"Who!?" – Plain, simple and to the point. That's all that Shikamaru could say, after not only hearing Naruto pretty much saying troublesome words, as well as saying that he will call Gama or something.

"Oh I'm sorry, I never told you I had a summon contract. Here, let me introduce you." Said Naruto as he was going through the hand seals after bitting her finger. **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU (9)**

From a puff of smoke, a toad from the size of Naruto, appeared, with a war vest and two swords strapped on his back.

"Shikamaru, meet Gamatatsu, one of my partners in crime." Said Naruto as he slammed his hand on Gamatatsu's back, grinning like a maniac towards his toad friend, knowing that the latter did this a lot of times before and well a slam from a toad hurts as hell, even if it's just friendly manner.

"How're you doing, bro?? Despite the fact that you just slammed really hard on my shoulders and rest assured, I'm going to get you for that." Said Gamatatsu, smiling in a evil manner towards his human friend, showing him that next time he may not be so friendly.

"I'm fine, Gamatatsu, just returning all those slaps you gave me back then and besides what I just did to you didn't even compare to the ones you gave me. The last one actually left your paw print on my shoulders, oh so have you know." Smiled Naruto as he was literally taunting a battle toad who by the way had two swords and wasn't afraid to use it.

"Hehhe, fun times. So Naruto, what can I do for you?"

"Can you deliver these books to the librarian for me?" Said Naruto.

"Sure, but what's in it for me?" Said Gamatatsu, much to Naruto's dismay, since such toad was in fact a greedy bastard.

"How about one chocolate bar as well as scaring the librarian a little bit, you know like good old days." – Said Naruto, earning smiles from his partner in crime as well as Shikamaru since he as well wouldn't mind scaring that lady a little bit, since he didn't like being a messenger.

"Make it two chocolate bars, and you got a deal."

"You are one greedy toad, you know that, right? Fine, two it is. Man, I have to get extra supply of those chocolate bars if I want your help in the future. But then I guess I'm glad you're not your father, because if you were, I would have to buy the whole chocolate factory just to fill him".

"Done." Said the toad, vanishing.

* * *

**--At the library--**

The toad disappeared and appeared right next to the librarian, scaring the hell out of her. Actually, he threw the books at her, while making some scary face, courtesy of Uzumaki Naruto and his well known pranks throughout the shinobi countries.

"I'm here to deliver Uzumaki Naruto's books." Screamed Gamatatsu.

"Ahhh thanks." Being that all that she could say given the fact that a human sized toad with two swords strapped on his back, screaming at her and making scary face.

"You're welcome, bye".

"Strange character aren't you Naruto.

* * *

**--Back at Naruto's apartment--**

"I'm back Naruto, where are my bars?"

"Here we go."

"Thanks, see ya".

"Bye, Say hello to Bunta for me".

"OK".

"So, Shikamaru, what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Uhhhh! Oh yeah, Tsunade wants to talk to you at 6:00 pm about the chunnin exams. Actually, she called for both of us."

"Ok, I'll be there".

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

When the clock inside Tsunade's room showed 6:00 pm, she, Shikamaru and two ninjas were waiting for Naruto to arrive.

"At least, he didn't change the fact that he always late to arrive here."

"I wouldn't say that, Hokage-sama." Naruto, out of nowhere, appeared from a puff of smoke.

"What the f…? You scared me, you know."

"My apologies. You called for me, Tsunade-sama."

For some reason, she was expecting to hear Tsunade baa-chan, but it never came out.

"I can see you changed dramatically." And that she meant that he was Minato with different clothes. His hair grew a little bit and his muscles were showing more because of his outfit.

"Really? Is that noticeable?"

"Have you looked yourself in the mirror? Your clothes changed. That colour of your blouse really suited you. Your face expression is very experienced Naruto, you're definitely changed a lot."

'_Tsunade-sama is hitting on Naruto? Troublesome.' _Thought Shikamaru.

"Well, your request was to train for the chunnin exams that will start tomorrow and…" Said Tsunade until she was cut out by Naruto.

"Excuse me, Tsunade-sama?" Naruto said in a polite and respectful manner, frightening Tsunade like anything, never in her whole life would see Naruto as polite.

"Yes?"

"Did you call Kakashi-sensei here as well?" Said Naruto as he sensed the presence of the lazy jounin approaching the office.

"Actually yeah, I did. How do you know that?"

"Because he's going to knock on your door right now."

At the sound of Kakashi's knocking, everyone in the room froze and Naruto smiled.

"Enter kakashi." Tsunade ordered, giving the creeps out of the jounin who figured that the hokage was spying on him or something.

"How did you know it was me Tsunade-sama? I didn't say my name."

"Ask your student, he sensed your chakra approaching and annunciated your arrival." – Said Tsunade, smiling towards Naruto.

Kakashi turned to see a 200 changed Naruto and widen his eyes in surprise. – "Naaaaruto, is that really you?" Asked the one eyed jounin, thinking he was hallucinating since he swore he had seen his sensei giving him a little grin and say 'Surprise'.

"Is been a while, Kakashi-sensei, how you've been?"

"I was normal until now. I see you are stronger than before."

"Enough Kakashi. So Naruto I want you to meet your team for the chunnin exams. Katoshi Saito and Mitarai Tonari, they will take the chunnin exams with you, since their teammate is not in conditions to do the exam."

"Nice to meet you both." Said a shadow figure just behind the new ninjas.

Actually, Naruto decided to do a little demonstration of his skills to everyone by performing a single kage bunshin to appear behind the two genins, but it was so quick that the Hokage was in shock when she realized what Naruto have done. After seeing an exact copy of the blond shinobi behind them, Saito and Tonari could only jump in surprise.

"_I didn't know that he improved that much. What type of training die he go through?" _Kakashi wondered.

"So, introduce yourselves, so I can meet my team better." Said Naruto, causing the young genins to promptly present themselves, Saito went first.

"Katoshi Saito, 13 years old. My sensei is Aoba, and I have large experience in taijutsu and fire type jutsu. My dream for the future is to succeed almost impossible missions and be one strong jounin."

"Mitarai Tonari, 13 years old. My sensei is Aoba, as well. I have affinity with water type jutsu, taijustu and a little kenjutsu. I want to be the best Konoha's swordsman".

"Since you all introduced yourself. I'm going to introduce myself".

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, 15 years old and my sensei is here with us, Kakashi-sensei. I have experience with wind and water jutsus, as well as excellent chakra control and taijutsu. I want to become a part of ANBU and in the future, an elite jounin".

"Nice to meet you Uzumaki-san." Both genins said together.

"Since you all already know each other, you three are dismissed. Kakashi and Shikamaru you stay, I need to talk to the both of you."

With that, the three genins left in order to get to know each other, since Naruto asked them to show what they could do.

"So Kakashi, from what you see, what's your opinion of his training?"

"For only two weeks of training, he changed a lot. He's really not the same. I cannot say what's his new abilities are, because I was on a mission, but I can assure you that he won't have any trouble at the exams."

"That's quite obvious, don't you think?" Shikamaru said.

"What do you mean, Shikamaru?"

"For him to have affinity with two elemental jutsus, it's safe to say that he's already low level jounin at least."

"I agree, Hokage-sama. I didn't notice when he did the kage bunshin. If I were to fight him, I have to use the sharingan at full force."

"I see. Well, tomorrow is the chunnin exams, and the third part won't be until one month after the second part, so we'll only see his abilities, then."

"Tsunade-sama, I have a request for you."

"What is it?"

"I want to be the person taking care of Naruto's heaven and earth scrolls in the second part."

"Granted. You are dismissed.

* * *

**(1) Wind Style: Hurricane**

**(2) Wind Style: Great Breaktrough**

**(3) Water Style: Great Wave**

**(4) Actually, Naruto had the answer for the techinique's weakness. Since he can create kage bunshin very easily, he would form one, in order to stall the enemy's attention at least until the water barrier dissipated.**

**(5) Water Style: Water Dragon**

**(6) Water Style: 1000 Water Needles**

**(7) Water Style: Whirlpool**

**(8) For those who does not know who Gamatatsu is, He is the son of Gamabunta, the head of the toads.**

**(9) Summoning Jutsu**


	4. Chunnin Exams

**Tired of being known as the hyperactive knucklehead of Konoha**

**Summary: What would happen if Naruto, now 15 years old and still a genin, grew tired of the fact that everyone in Konohaconsiders him as being the most hyperactive knucklehead ninja of the hidden village. What if, all of a sudden, Naruto becomes serious about his life as a ninja and starts to train harder than ever, accomplishing difficult and impossible missions and becoming an elite ANBU captain?**

**Pairing Naruto x Anko**

**Chapter 4 – Chunnin exams**

When the chunnin exams came, Konoha was filled with genins from other villages. The hidden village of sand because of pact cooperation with Konoha, have formed a pact in reference to the chunnin exams, sent ten teams of hopeful genins to become chunnins. Iwa sent three teams, waterfall sent two teams and grass sent one.

Team Naruto had already learned about each other andeach one's techniques, right after their talk with Tsunade-sama.

**FLASHBACK**

"So, why don't you two show me what you can do?" - Asked Naruto, performing two kage bunshins to fight.

"No problem"- Said Saito, up and eager for the challenge.

**First Naruto clone x Saito**

The Naruto clone picked up a kunai andcharged with great speed at Saito, who managed to dodge the attack easily andcharged at the clone with a taijutsu stance. Saito had great reflexes, so he was avoiding every move the clone made and actually manage the attack a few times.

Narutoclone suddenly appeared behind Saito and punched him, just to see a log in Saito's place.

"Kariwimi no jutsu, good timing" - Thought the real Naruto, observing the fight.

Suddenly Saito jumped and started to perform of hand seals: **KATON GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU****1**

The clone did a couple of hand seals very quickly and screamed **SUITON SUISH****UUHA NO JUTSU**

A large wall of water surrounded the clone and protected him from the blast and then released the technique right after, blocking a sudden kick from Saito and punching him on the chest, causing Saito to wince in pain, signifying the end of the fight. The real Naruto dispelled the first clone and went to see if Saito was alright.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine god damn it, it's just that I hate to lose."

"Keep that in mind. Actually I have some advice for you if you want to hear."

"Give me."

"You attacked my clone with such confidence, that you forgot to protect yourself, therefore you let your guard open for my clone to attack you. Your actions were good, indeed the suishuuha have that disadvantage, but even though you had the upper hand, do not attack the enemy, assuming that he won't be prepared for your strike. What I'm meaning to say is "**don't underestimate your opponent**". I'm sure your sensei already told you that."

"Actually, he didn't, because this is the first time I receive a blow like that."

"I see. For the chunnin exams, you'll need that advice, trust me."

"Got it, Naruto-san, thanks."

"No problem."

"Now, let's see what you can do Tonari?"

"Ah, Naruto-san, can you teach me the suishuuha?"

"Sure, I can. But only after you beat my clone."

"Beat your clone??"

"Yeah"

"But Saitocouldn't do much with him and Saito is stronger than me."

"Strengthdoesn't mean anything, you know. There can be a lot of ways to win a fight, strength is one of them, also, speed, intelligence, knowledge of jutsus, and knowledge of the area. But as I was telling Saito, underestimating your enemy it's not a valid strategy, you can never assume anything, based on appearance."

"Ok, Naruto, let's begin."

**Second Naruto clone x Tonari**

Just after the real Naruto ordered the fight to start, Tonari open a scroll and drew a Katana, out of it. Both Naruto clone and the real one was surprised.

"Now, I remember him saying that he was good in kenjutsu, this shall be interesting."

The Naruto clone performed some hand seals and attacked: **SUITON ****GYORAI SHIN ****NO JUTSU**

With lots of needles coming at his direction, Tonari smiled and remembered his father doing the same and Tonaricutting them all with his katana. Swinging his Katana with speed, Tonari managed to cut at least 800 needles and dodged the rest of them, by jumping.

"That exercise I already mastered, Naruto, you won't catch me with it."

"Pay attention to the fight" - The real Naruto said.

The Narutoclone appeared from behind and kicked Tonari in the left side of the stomach, hurting a little bit.

"Damn you" - I was caught by surprise.

Tonari, then, performed home hand signs and screamed **KONOHA RYUU: MIKAZUHI NO MAI**

With that, Tonari suddenly created a copy of himself to be a diversion and attacked Naruto clone on the back, winning the battle, but was really tired, since the jutsu he used, consumed a lot of chakra.

"Very good, Tonari - I've never seen that jutsu, who taught you?"

"My uncle Gekkou Hayate, when I grow up, I want to be just like he was." – Said Tonari just for Narutoto remember Hayate's deathjust before the sand-sound invasion.

"I'm so sorry for his death; it must have been hard for you." – Naruto remembered that Hayatewas killed by a windtechnique that created a sword made of wind.

"It was, but I understand the ninja rules and the risk of never coming back of a mission."

Naruto started to like these two. Saito was very determined and managed to fight his clone very well and Tonari, also, is very skilled withhis sword. With his age andmanage to understand such cold rules, it's actually astonishing. They will be excellent ninjas, someday.

"So, Naruto-san, do you have any advice for me?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah I do."

"What is it?"

"Do not lower your guard, unless you are absolutely sure your opponent is defeated. If I wanted, my clone could use the opportunity given by yourself when you were all cocky, saying about your sword handling and just used a much stronger technique, disabling you for good. Now the real enemy won't go easy on you, so he will attack when he sees an open guard. But, since you defeated my clone, I'll teach you the suishuuha.

"Gee, thanks."

**FLASHBACK END**

Since Narutowas taking the exams the second time, he knew what the tests were all about. So, he explained to his new teammates.

"As I said, the first part is a written test. So, you have two alternatives and both of them involve passing the exam. The first is to answer every question correct and the second is to cheat without any of the judges spot you. Which one do you prefer?"

"The second, of course" - Both said.

"Great! I have the perfect plan for us to get passed this test." **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU**

"Everyone meet Gamatori, Gamato and Gamatitsui, grandsons of Gamabunta, the head of toads. Since they can communicate witheach other in a secret way, each one will be with each one of us to pass the answers.

"Got it!"

"Now, the tenth question will be different and won't involve answering any question. For this one, my advice is to do the same as me, just copy me."

"Simple." – Stated Kaito

Since the plan was set, each teammate with each of the toads seated in different places of the room for the exam held by Morino Ibiki, Konoha's special jounin and a nutcase.

"Naruto got his answers from his Gamatori by a ninja he knew, held all the exercises for the test and Gamatori passed the answers to the other toads, so they can transmit the answers to Naruto's teammates."

It was a piece of cake. Nobody noticed and the three genins managed to answer all the nine questions so Naruto released the toads. 10 minutes later, Morino Ibiki gave the 10th question.

"Time's up. Time for the 10th question. Right now, you all have the chance to leave if you're not sure you can answer the question, but if you stay and get the question wrong, you'll never be able to take the exams again, as long as I leave."

When Ibiki finished the explanation, everyone screamed in anger at the jounin and demanded an explanation.

"This is the question. It's your choice. Stay or leave? Oh, I forgot to tell that if one of a team leaves, the rest of the team have to leave with him.

In less than a minute, half of the teams left, complaining about the 10th question. Tonari and Saito watched that Narutostayed, so they did the same, demonstrating their trust on the blond shinobi.

"For those who remained congratulations! You passed the 1st part of the exam. A ninja who walk away from a mission doesn't deserve to be a chunnin."

Morino didn't have the time to finish his sentence, when suddenly, the room window broke and Mitarashi Anko got in, much to Ibiki, Naruto and most of the people present that already know of the snake mistress's antics.

"Alright, you losers, I'm the examiner of the 2nd round, so follow me. Oh, Hi gaki, how you've been?" – Greeted Anko to the blonde genin. Anko came to know about what happened to him by Kurenai and was very interested to see the new him.

"Fine Anko-san, and you?" – Responded Naruto in a strangely polite manner towards the tokubetsu jounin that everyone now turned to him and kept staring at him while disbelieving that manners and Naruto would never do together. Anko for her part was stunned. The brat, three years ago, was noisy to say the least and always interrupted her explanation while screaming things like 'Im not scared at you lady' or 'just start the damn thing'.

"Huh!" – It was all Anko could muster while seeing what was once a noisy brat, now showing utmost respect, confidence anda characteristic that the snake mistress would only find within ninjas at least 20 years old, **experienced. **Naruto was displaying this aura that she could feel that it was trustworthy. If not from the fact that she thought he was hotter than ever. Actually, she as well as Kakashi was seeing the reincarnation of the Yondaime but without the goofy smile andthe happy-go-round attitude. This new Minato was anything like his father. Serious face, determined attitude, confident in his abilities.

"What?" – Actually Naruto was looking at the fact that Anko was checking him out and innerved him a little bit, since he wasn't used to attract attention. He thought at first that was because of his new attitude and behavior but then he remembered seeing similar looks from the hokage when she was complementing him, so he thought that was something else.

"You're actually Naruto, that noisy brat who couldn't keep his mouth shut, screaming and blabbing about becoming hokage?" – Said Anko, looking at the blond shinobi intently, never taking her eyes away of his peculiar face features, as well as his deep blue eyes that Anko somehow was hypnotized over it andhis golden hair. From Naruto's part, he really resented the comparison with his younger self, like somehow she was underestimating him again, but he immediately shrugged off, since she displayed no such intention.

"That really hurt, you know? Oh hell, what was I thinking, you'll never change that manner of yours and as for the Hokage part, you can very well forget about that, seeing that it's not my dream anymore." – Answered Naruto, earning looks from everyone in the room that already knew him and knew of his dream.

The elder ninjas in the room stared at Naruto, with mouth wide open in surprise. But, then again, not all Konoha ninjas knew of his sudden transformation. Ibiki, like Sandaime back then, always looked at Naruto with a smile, concluding that he never stopped impressing him. Ibikiwas already quite fond of the boy during his life, during his first exam and then his mission to aid Ibiki's brother to win a race, saving him from a missing-nin called Aoi and breaking the Nidaime's raiton sword.

"This boy continue to surprise me." - _Thought Ibiki_, smiling.

"_That brat changed 100, he is not the same anymore, and the air of experience I sense when I look in his ocean blue eyes is astonishing, what happened to him? And…what's happening to me, I'm actually drooling, just by looking at him, even though he is some piece of meat right there, waid did I actually said that...Well he is hot!_" - Wondered Anko, demonstrating secondintentions eyes toward the blond shinobi, much to the laughter of her superior in interrogation squad Morino Ibiki who never saw Anko blushing like that over a guy, let alone a teenager.

After the remaining teams arrived at Training Groud#44, A.K.A The Forest of Death, Anko explained the rules and about the Earth & Heaven scroll, even then not taking her eyes of Naruto, well at his body at least. She was supposed to be explaining the rules to everyone, but since her eyes were looking directly at the blonde genin, it seemed that she was explaining only to him, which was pretty much an irony, since he was one of the few that already knew what the second part was going to be. Naruto for his part, was studying Anko's behavior. Never once did anyone looked at him like that, well only Tsunade, a few days ago, but she was the hokage and kind of a family figure for Narutoeven though he now treated with the respect that everyone treat the hokage.

After the solo explanation, the teams signed the wager that consisted on the fact that if you died, Konohawould not be hold responsible since the secondexams did involve killing and everyone could die any minute if they weren't careful. That much was the reason why Konoha made them assign such forms, since the last one they did without it, the other hidden villages were quite pissed at them, almost declaring war against the hidden village of leaves. Naruto for his part directed himself to his team andstarted explaining what needed to be done, in order to pass the second part of the exams.

"Ok, guys, we got the earthscroll, so try to scout the teams for the ones with the heaven scroll, so that we can focus on those teams". – Said Naruto, cursing himself since the last one, if they did that, his team could avoid facing Orochimaru and those big snaked of him.

"Good idea".

"Naruto-san, I spotted two teams from Suna with the heaven scroll and one from Iwa" - said Saito, seeing such teams showing to their respective teammates, the scrolls.

"Good, when inside. Let's focus our battle with the iwa team, so we can head for the tower quickly." – Said Naruto, not actually wanting to be on bad terms with the Kazekage, that was the one and only Sabaku no Gaara, ex-holder of the One-Tailed Deamon Shukaku.

"OK". – Actually the team didn't argue andproceeded according to Naruto's plan, since both of them secretly considered Naruto to be a better teacher than their sensei Aoba.

When gate #17 opened, the three genins started to jump from tree to tree; Naruto started to apply Jiraya's teachings and managed to locate doton chakra presences, signifying that the team from Iwa was near.

* * *

**--With Anko--**

After all the gates opened and the genins entered the Forest, Anko had to count some time until she was to reach the tower at the center of the forest. Right now, she was waiting outside the main entrance as she was playing with a kunai with a face that to most shinobis and kunoichis in Konoha it meant trouble. If one were to study her face right now, would be able to see such devious grin as well as the fact that her tongue was licking her lips with some pleasure. Actually, Anko just remembered about the last exams the gaki participated and the time she licked such tasty blood from him that day. So, Gaki you think you can look at me like you did and do not suffer consequences because of it, I'll show him eventually, damn right I will, just you wait, Gaki.

Meanwhile, one of the chunnin proctors that were beside her witnessing her every move, trembled in fear at the sight. He damn well knew the last time she smile like as he remembered a comrade of his be sent to the hospital by the snake mistress after some flerting with her. All he could do is feel pity for the one that she's thinking about right now.

* * *

**--Back with Naruto and his team--**

"Saito, the opponent has knowledge in doton techniques, so suitonwill be out of question. That leaves us with your katon techniques, my fuuton jutsu and taijutsu."

"Got it, Naruto-san, trust me." – Said Saito, extremely happy to hear their commander's way of thinking and strategy.

"Ok guys, I have a plan. I'm gonna perform a kage bunshin to collect the Heaven scroll, while we fight the iwa team, okay?"

"OK".

After a while, team Narutomeet up with Iwa team, engaging everyone in battle. Saito did some handseals and screamed **KATON HOUSENKA NO JUTSU (****2)**

Various small fire balls attacked the iwa team, dispersing the team apart and ruining their defenses. Naruto, withgreat speed, went from behind one of iwa's geninalong with four clones and performed his favourite taijutsu technique **UZUMAKI HENDAN.**

The clones all hit the genin one time each, throwing him to the air, where the real Naruto kicked the genin on the shoulder, knocking him down and the heaven scroll went flying, being picked by a clone, without the rest of the iwa team knowing. Suddenly one of the other iwa genins performed some hand seals and charged in fury against Saito screaming **DOTON DORYOU DANGO (****3)****.**

Whis this technique, a rock avalanche went straight to Saito, forcing him to channel chakra on his feet, in order to escape quickly, which he did. Tonari, seized the fact that the iwa genin was attacking Saito, so he threw a kunailoaded withan explosive note at him and by doing a single handseal, the explosive note exploded right in front of the iwa genin, throwing him to a tree, where he fell unconscious. The last one remaining was fighting Naruto. Naruto actually was concentrated on the battle, but the iwa genin was showing strong signs of exhaustion, so Naruto decided to endquickly, charging with a low power rasengan, scaring his opponent, up to the point where he could not move, therefore, the rasengan landed on his chest, sending him flying just a little bit.

"Alright Team, we got the scroll, now which would you choose. Rest a bit or go straight to the tower and rest up there. In order to make this choice, you guys have to sense just how much of chakra you still have inside of you, since what I have in mind, will definitely wear you out of chakra in a matter of hours." – Asked Naruto, seeing the look of determination on his teammates.

"What do you think, Saito?" – Asked Tonari, wondering just what Naruto had in mind.

"I say we go straight to the tower, there we can sleep better not having to worry about enemies trying to take our scrolls, what do you have in mind, Naruto-sensei?" – Said Saito.

"Well, I came up withan exercise to improve your chakrareserves greatly as well as improve your control like nothing else before. The exercise is to focus chakra on your feet so we can travel faster until we reach the tower, which I believe will take us 20 to 30 minutes to get there, that's why I asked about your chakra resevers."

"We can take it, right, Saito?"

"You beat your ass, we can, let's do it."

"Good, let's go then, channel charka through your feet and let's go."

"Alright, Naruto-sensei". - Actually, in spite of Saito's mishap, the younger genins saw Naruto as a senseimore than a teammate, because of the fact that they were learning a lot from the blond shinobi. After some time, Naruto and the others reached the tower and entered it, completing the exercise in half a day. Since the young genins's chakra reserves were greatly diminished, they tookthe extra time to rest a bit, since the test was for five whole days. Meanwhile, Narutoopened both scrolls, and a figure appeared, revealing Kakashi-sensei.

"Oh, it's you Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm very proud of you Naruto."

"Why you say that?"

"Even though I was hidden inside the scroll, I managed to see everything, since your team entered the forest and had to admit that you acted like a true shinobi. And it seems that I'm not the only one who thinks that way, **Naruto-sensei – **Said Kakashi, looking at him proudly with seeing his student's students.

"Ah that! I don't know what Saito meant by saying that"

"They look at you, as you look at me, that's why."

"Do you think so?"

"I know so. Naruto, I want to train you for the third part of the exam. I already asked Tsunade-sama and she accepted it."

"Great. Ah Kakashi-sensei, do you know if there is anywhere these two can sleep a little, they seem pretty exhausted."

"Of course, they do. Travel for half an hour with chakra concentration. Not everyone have as much chakra reserve as you do, Naruto. When I heard your plan, I was hoping they wouldn't suffer from chakra exhaustion on the way here. But, if you think again, your exercise expanded their chakra reserves and their chakraconcentration. Well, since you finished the second test, follow me, I'll guide to a dorm room for you and your team.

"Ok, just hold on a second. Naruto performed two kage bunshins to pick the two genins and take them to the dorm room, which made Kakashi smile at the scene."

"Now, that's a scene I thought I would only see when Naruto went to jounin rank." - Smiled Kakashi.

Kakashi noticed the bonding and the respect that the two younger genins showed toward Naruto andthe same with Naruto and them. Kakashiwas actually looking at the two teammates of his student with a bit of pride. They were Konoha's best, Saito and Tonari graduated at the academy, almost sharing the title of rookie of the year, so the hokageput them on the same team so as to create an all around team who could very well take any mission. But since the third teammate was injured on their last mission, he couldn't participate on the chunnin exams, so Naruto filled his place.

* * *

**--Four days and a half later--**

After four days and a half, Tsunade gathered the nine genins left and started the speech, dressed as a hokage:

"Congratulations for those who passed the second part of the exam. Now let me explain what's going to happen for the third and final part of the exam. You all have a month to train for the tournament and the reason is simple. You'll be given the chance to master new jutsus, other the ones used in the second part. In a month time, they will be held a tournament and this time, will be each one for himself. Dismissed."

When the genins selected the numbers, in order to determine who will be their opponent, Naruto took the time to see that he'll be facing opponents from Suna, Konoha and Grass. When the board was made, Naruto's team was satisfied with their opponents. Each genin of Konoha would get to fight one genin from Suna and one from Grass, being that same rule for the rest of the genins. When everyone was dismissed, Kakashigathered with Naruto to discuss their training. At first, Naruto got to think, since he decided to start doing training on his own for now on, but he could very well see in Kakashi's eyes that he was underestimating Narutoin any way, so he gave the one-eyed jounin a chance.

As Kakashi delivered a new training schedule, which by the way involved two parts. The first part would be Doton (defensive techniques) training andthe second will be Kenjutsu training. The rest of the time, Kakashi assigned free time for reflection and practice.

"This timetable looks good, Kakashi-sensei."

"Glad you like it! We will begin the training in two days."

"Why not tomorrow?"

"Because, tomorrow, I want to have a preliminary fight with you at Training Ground #20, so I can see how are your fighting skills, say 8:00 am."

"It's a deal, then. I'll arrive there 9:00 am, since you're always late. – Said Naruto mocking his sensei, since he was the only one to see Naruto's fun side in a long time.

"This time, will be different, so be there at 8".

* * *

**--Next day--**

On the next day, Naruto arrived at the place at 8:00 am, but no sign of Kakashi."

"I knew that guy wouldn't be here on time, he's always late, I wonder why?"

15 minutes later, Naruto sensed his sensei approaching andgreeted him without needing to turn around to see the silver hair jounin.

"Are you ready, Naruto?"

"I will be once you activate your sharingan, Kakashi-sensei".

"Fair enough."

With that, kakashi uncovered his red eye. Just after that, Naruto threw two kunai at Kakashi, which the jouninsimply watched both of them pass by and throw two of his own kunais at the already henged Narutoclones from behind.

"Good strategy, Naruto, but you can't do that with a Sharingan user."

"I know that Kakashi-sensei, I just wanted to show you one of the many techniques I learned."

"Oh, I see."

With that, Kakashi threw some shurikens at Naruto and then performed some hand seals. **KAGE SHURIKEN NO JUTSU (4)**

The shurikens suddenly multiplied and all hit Naruto, transforming him into a log. **KAWARIMI NO JUTSU**

Naruto appeared right next to Kakashi, with a rasengan charged in his hands, but Kakashi knew it wasn't the same rasenganas before, something was different, since this one had a ring around the energy ball. Kakashiducked with great speed, Naruto's attack and started to ask Naruto:

"What is with that rasengan, you've just made?"

"I'm actually glad you dodge it, because if I were to land a blow on you with that technique, the cut could hurt a little bit."

"Fuuton chakra?"

"Bingo! That's my fuuton rasengan."

"I see. This technique is deadly, Naruto. It seems that I have to fight seriously, then"

"Please do, it wouldn't be fair to me, if you were underestimating me."

"Fine, here I come, **KATON GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU**. Since Narutowouldn't be able to dodge the grandfireball, he did the same thing with Saito.

**SUITON SUISH****UUHA NO JUTSU. **With that, a huge water column surrounded Naruto, protecting him from the blast. Also, what Kakashi didn't knew, Naruto did a kage bunshin in order to prevent Kakashi from attacking Naruto unprepared.

"Good one, Naruto, but that technique has a flaw."

"I know". – Said a Naruto clone from out of nowhere, kicking Kakashi's stomach, therefore sending him flying to a small river near the battlefield. Naruto ran to the river quickly, seeing that he had the area advantage, because of his affinity and started to perform some hand seals saying - Gotcha You! **SUITON ****UZUMAKI NO JUTSU**

"Oh, crap, I have to swim away fast, or else I will get caught on Naruto's jutsu." – Instantly, Kakashi looked up and saw that a whirlpool was beginning his formation and decided that staying there would be a very bad move to do, so without Naruto knowing, Kakashi swam away and went to dry land.

"Huh? He is there, I didn't sense him. He must've used chakra while I was using my jutsu, that's why I wasn't able to find him."

Then, from a great distance, Kakashi performed some hand seals and said **DOTON DORYUUDAN NO JUTSU (****5)**

Narutogasped in shock when he saw a mud monster surge from the ground and started shooting mud projectiles at him. Thinking fast, Naruto dodged the attack while performing seals of his own and counterattack Kakashi with **FUUTON ATSUGA NO JUTSU**.

Kakashi noticed the Tornado coming right at him and remembered Nejihospitalized, just because of the Hurricane's strong wind, so he ran as fast as he could to a side where he could avoid the tornado andits powerful wind.

"Naruto managed to learn some strong jutsus. I wonder which more he knows? Naruto, let's end our fight. I've seen enough."

"Ok, Kakashi-sensei. But I have more jutsus to show, if you want to see." – Said Naruto, really wanting to show what he learned to his sensei, since he was indeed what Naruto could call a sensei since the other ones such as Jiraya and the school teachers (except Iruka) he didn't even bothered calling them anything.

"No, that's ok. You can show me later." – Kakashi, from inside, was cursing himself for his lack of determination, since the A and S class missions were over for a year now and Kakashi just got himself too much on the Icha Icha to bother and train more than a few roundups and some light taijutsu practice.

"Let's get something to eat, than tomorrow, we begin our training."

* * *

**--At the Ramen Stand--**

At the ramen stand, Naruto and Kakashi began to talk:

"So, Naruto, you managed to learn some very powerful jutsus. They will come in handy for almost every mission you encounter as a ninja."

"Thanks. I practiced non-stop to learn how to perform this jutsus."

"So, tell me Naruto, in your training period, did you manage to create an ultimate jutsu, or as I would say, your signature".

"As a matter of fact, I did create something like that."

"Tell me about it."

"You remember the fuuton rasengan I showed you, right?. What I do next is call a kage bunshin and while I perform the fuuton rasengan, the bunshin will channel more fuuton chakra, transforming the fuuton rasenganin a big energy ball located inside a big wind shuriken, that, when it touched the enemy, well, I have to show you the result of it."

After explaining the jutsu, Kakashi was intrigued to say the least about the jutsu's description and he was way more intrigued to see just how dangerous can the jutsu be. So, Kakashi asked for Naruto to run a little demonstration. Complying, Naruto and Kakashiwent to a more secluded training ground so that Naruto could demonstrate the jutsu.

"Do you see that big rock over there?"

"Yes."

"Step aside, Kakashi-sensei, please."

Naruto then performed a fuuton rasengan with his bunshin, transforming to the Fuuton Rasenshuriken, showing to Kakashi, the jutsu's form, throwing huge gusts of wind though every direction, like a chopper at close distance, then Naruto started to run towards the location of the trees, in order to destroy them. When the jutsutouched the first tree, a giant windwhirlpool engulfed the entire tree area, cutting everything that was inside, in a such a way that, even with the sharingan, Kakashi couldn't count the exact number of cuts.

"That's my ultimate jutsu called Fuuton Rasenshuriken. I'm actually training to see if I can throw it like a shuriken, other than like the rasengan"

"Incredible!" – Actually what he said was an understatement. The move was to be considered, easily, kinjutsu if Tsunade were to know of such move. The destruction was just too grand to not be considered life-threatening.

"But the problem with this jutsu is that no matter how much my control is good, my arms hurts a little bit when I use it. But since the next day my arm was healed, I didn't think much of it, but I'm still practicing and with time I can do it without hurting my arm.

"Amazing Naruto, that technique could be very well categorized as an S-class jutsu, if not a kinjutsu, if Tsunade-sama become aware of the destruction as well as the fact that you hurt your arm while doing it. So take this as my advice anduse it only when it's a life or death situation for the time being.

"Sure, no problem Kakashi-sensei, I do have other techniques and the fuuton rasengan it's all that I need at the moment. I'm not planning on using the Rasenshuriken against anyone."

"Ok, Naruto, tomorrow, Hokage Building, 9:00 am, be there for your training."

"Ok, see you Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

**--With Kakashi--**

Right after Kakashi's fight with Naruto, an ANBU appeared in front of the jounin, while he was jumping through rooftops heading towards his apartment. Upon further memory on the Anbu masks, Kakashi recognized the Anbu as being the one who replaced him as jounin for his team and pretty much caused Naruto to change. The man was no other than Yamato.

"Sempai, Godaime wants to talk to you." – Greeted the Anbu then vanishing back to the godaime's office, closely followed by the lazy jounin.

As he arrived at the office, Kakashi now turned to the godaime.

"You called me Tsunade-sama?"

"Yeah, Kakashi. Ahhm Yamato you can stay here as well, I want you to hear this conversation."

"Ok, Tsunade-sama." – Said Yamatofiguring it was a high level mission that he would be doing with Kakashi.

"So, Kakashi, as we agreed, you would train Naruto for the third part of the chunnin exams. AndI understand that you saw his abilities, right?"

"I've seen it" - Said Kakashi, looking at Yamato.

"So, in which level you would grant him?"

"Right now, I would say mid-level jounin, but after this training, he will be close to my level."

"Excuse me, Kakashi-sempai. Naruto, a mid-level jounin, how's that possible? In our mission, all he could do was resort to Kyuubi."

"Actually, Yamato, you and Sakura were the responsible for his ultimate transformation."

"What, do you mean?" - Asked Yamato, now scared at Kakashi and Tsunade's anger look on him.

"After that mission, Naruto said to me that he was sick and tired of people underestimating his abilities. So he went in a two week training period, when he learned fuuton and suiton techniques, as well an excellent improvement on taijutsu andphysical strength. He even managed to mix chakramanipulation with elemental chakra. It's safe to say he's completely unrecognizable."

"Yes, he indeed became very strong" – Said Tsunade.

"Sorry Sempai, but I simply cannot believe you."

"Go see for yourself, then. He can't be far from here."

"Excuse me, Tsunade-sama."

* * *

**--At the Hokage Monument--**

Yamato, with great stealth, found Naruto standing on top of the Yondaime's head and hid his chakra, so not to be found. But it was no use, as Naruto already noticed his presence, the moment he arrived, but since Naruto wanted to get back at Yamato for blaming him about their mission and not even do anything about it.

"Spying on me, Yamato or who the hell your name is?"- Said Naruto seriously, earning some scared and wide eyed from the Anbu, since he didn't know of Naruto's abilities with chakra signature tracking and the fact that his stealth skills were among the best in the force.

"How do you know I was here?" – Asked Yamato.

"Simple. I just sensed your anger floating towards myself. Now, what are you doing here, besides irritating me to my very soul with just your presence" - Said Narutolooking at Yamato's direction, with a killing intent look on his face, that the ANBU froze instantly.

"I just came to see if Kakashi said was true."

Suddenly, from behind Yamato appeared Naruto, scaring the ANBU.

"What did Kakashi say?"

"How?! You were there and…you still there."

"It's actually a magic trick. Once you see I'm there, now, I'm not. See?" – Said Naruto, displaying now to everyone just what a evil sarcastic maniac he was, by doing a little trick with kage bunshin, before the Anbu could figure out what happened.

"Kage Bunshin?" – Asked Yamato not knowing what the hell happened.

"Very smart. Did ANBU accepted you because of your brains, cause for me you took a while to figure my little trick."

"I'll make you eat those words."

"Oh really? You and what army? - Said 100 Narutos, suddenly appearing from a huge smoke.

Seeing that he had no chance against Naruto's army, he performed a transportation jutsu and appeared in Tsunade's office.

**--At the Godaime's office--**

* * *

Kakashi and Tsunade were waiting for Yamato's return, when a puff of smoke appeared:

"So?" – Said Tsunade, being short and to the point.

"I managed to find him seating in Yondaime's head and hid in stealth, but he noticed me even before I arrived. Then I started to talk to him, only for him to appear right behind me and releasing his clone, which was the one really seating on Yondaime's head. Then the little brat cursed me, saying that I wasn't very smart since I took a while to figure his little trick, in which infuriated me, so I charged at him. From out of nowhere, 100 Narutos appeared, so I ran."

"Hahaha" - Tsunade laughed like a maniac. "You sure deserved that, Yamato".

"It seems you were tricked by a genin, Yamato." - Kakashi said, just to infuriate Yamato.

"But you said he is mid-level jounin". – Yamato was cursing this situation. He didn't liked to contradict Kakashi-sempai, since he respected his decision and life itself but assuming that Naruto would be jounin level was still a bit ludicrous."

"So, now you agree with me, then. Relax; I was jus teasing you, just like Naruto."

Tsunade still laughing managed to say to Kakashi.

"So, Kakashi, train him. Make him one of the best ninjas he could ever be. Because I can tell you one thing, you'll be pairing with him on missions to come."

"I'm actually looking forward to this, Hokage-sama."

* * *

**--With Naruto--**

Narutowas jumping from roof to roof in direction to his apartment, thinking on his training with Kakashi, when he sensed two familiar chakras coming his way.

"Naruto-san, wait up!"

"Hi, Saito and Tonari, where's the fire?"

"Naruto, remember that you're supposed to teach me the suishuuha?" - Asked Tonari.

"Oh yeah, I remember, now. Ok, then. Let's head to training ground #18."

"Let's go."

"By the way, what are you guys going to do as training?"

Saito promptly said: "Sensei Aoba gave me a scroll about katon techniques and how to properly use it, so I'll have a look at it, for a week, and then I'll see if I can learn new katon techniques, any suggestions?"

"Look for two specific katon techniques: **KATON RYUUKA NO JUSTU (****6)**and **KATON KARYU ENDAN (****7)**. If you manage to master these two techniques, you'll have quite an advantage. These two are one of the strongest Katon techniques. Also, Saito, you should learn defensive techniques as well, ask Aoba that."

"Defensive, why?"

"Why. Because, it's not always you'll be able to just dodge the attack. You'll haveto face it, using a defensivetechnique or evasive technique. Either way, you'll haveto learn at least two. The third part will evaluate both offensive and defensives aspects of the ninja, if they see that you only have offensiveattacks, it would be a negative point for you. Oh, and also, do not underestimate genin level techniques, like Kawarimi and bunshin no jutsu, they are the best for fooling your enemy."

"Thanks for the tip."

"We're here. So, what about you Tonari, what will you do for training?"

"I think I'll ask my father for kenjutsu lessons, but in regard to my ninjutsu, I'm clueless"

"If you want to master suiton techniques, go to the library and ask to see Nidaime's history."

"Nidaime, why?"

"Are you kidding? Nidaime was the ninja whose suiton techniques were unbeatable. Read his history and see if there is any of his jutsus, so you can learn it. One special technique I think you can learn, that's quite in handy is **NINPOU KIRIGAKURE NO JUTSU (****8)**. It's a jutsuthat creates a fog around the enemy, not allowing him to see you or what you're doing. Or you can ask Aobato see if he knows someone who has affinity with suiton jutsus, so this person can teach you."

"Ok, I'll do that. But first, teach me the suishuuha."

"Ok, then. Try to remember this hand seals sequence: Ox, Horse, Bird, Rat, Boar, Dog, Dragon. Once you did that sequence, you will mold your chakra and the technique will appear. Why don't you try it?"

"Here I go. Ox, Horse, Bird, Rat, Boar, Dog, Dragon." – Said Tonari, as he focused on his water chakra and screamed **SUITON SUISHUUHA NO JUTSU. **For Tonari's excitement, the water grew up high and then went towards the river that was near by.

"Very good, Tonari."

"I did it! I did it! One more jutsu."

"Okguys, now I'll be heading home, okay. See you in a month time".

* * *

**--Next day--**

On the next day, Kakashi went to the hokagebuilding half an hour late for his reunion with Naruto for their training. When he arrived, he didn't saw Naruto and began to worry.

"Hi Kakashi-sensei". - Said Naruto.

"Naruto, you've just arrived?"

"Uhuh. I assumed you'd be late, so I set my clock up for 9:00 am andcame here. As it turned out, I managed to arrivetogether with you, so my plan worked." – Said Naruto giving a victory grin at his sensei who by now was a little mad at Naruto for actually coming later than he did.

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" – Said Kakashi sighing after seeing Naruto's grin of triumph.

"Pretty much. This is the first time I arrive after you, Kakashi-sensei."

"Okay Naruto, We're heading for training ground #7."

"Okay."

"But first, if you want to become ANBU, there is a jutsu you must learn."

"Which is?"

"**SUNSHIN NO JUTSU"**.

"OH, right. That Yamato guy escaped me because of this jutsu".

"Yes, I believe so."

"Ok, so how do I learn this jutsu?"

"It's very simple; really, you will nail it pretty fast. You have to think of a specific place you want to be, focus your chakra and puff…Kakashi disappeared and appeared on top of a building nearby. But, you have to memorize the place you're going, so that can be no error, for instance, if you want to go to Tsunade's office, you have to remember the exact details of it, otherwise you will transport to another place."

"Let's see if I got it."

Puff…

Naruto suddenly disappeared andappeared right behind Kakashi.

"See, I told you caught it pretty quickly."

"Yes, it really wasn't so hard to do it".

"Since you don't know exactly how training ground #7 is, follow me, will you?"

* * *

**--At Training Ground #7--**

"We're here, Naruto, now; I'm going to teach you dotontechniques. They are best for defensive situations and evasivetechniques, but they serveas good offensive as well. As a matter of fact, every chakranature has both defense and offence, except for katon, which is only offensive. But if you manage to learn doton jutsus, you'll have experience in three chakra natures, counting fuuton and suiton. Now if you after, decide to learn Katon techniques, than you'll have a full pack of jutsus to use in a number of situations.

"Actually, Kakashi-sensei, I was hoping to learn at least four doton techniques."

"Four? Why?"

"Three defensive andone offensive jutsu. In my training, I focused on attacking instead of defending. Even my suishuuhaisn't only a defensive jutsu."

"Since that's your request. I believe it's just fine. Actually you already have a good arsenal of jutsus. I'm just adding doton because knowledge of two chakra nature is requisite to be qualified a jounin, but if you have three, you'll have chances of going to ANBU. Plus, they are the best jutsus for defensive and evasive situations. So, I selected four important doton jutsus for you."

**DOTON YOMI NUMA NO JUTSU**: After forming the needed handseals, a vast swamp can appear beneath his target to sink and trap the enemy.

**DOTON DORYUUHEKI NO JUTSU**: The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and then spew a line of mud onto the ground. The mud will then grow into a large mud wall to help defend against incoming attack.

**DOTON DORYUUDAN NO JUTSU**: The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and create a dragon from the river of mud made after using the DoryuuTaiga technique. This dragon will then spew mud projectiles from its mouth.

**DOTON DOYUU TAIGA NO JUSTU**: The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and transform the ground upon which the enemy stands into a river of mud.

"Those seem very good for me."

"Good? They are very high ranked. They are high level chunnin techniques. But, remember, Naruto, this techniques involves a lot of chakra, even though you have plenty, it's always nice to know what every single jutsu's result in your chakra capacity. For instance, an "A" rank jutsu can take a considerable amount of a ninja's chakra and even though you grew a lot, I remember that your chakra control wasn't too good."

"Kakashi-sensei. Didn't Neji tell Godaime about how was my training?"

"I don't think she mentioned to me, no."

"Strange. In all my training period, I sensed his chakra near me, so I thought that he was spying on me. And one day, I stopped sensing his chakra, so I figured that he talked to Tsunade-sama."

"It didn't come to my attention, then. But why are you bringing this up, Naruto."

"Because the first thing that I trained was chakra control."

"Come again??"

"Yeah, I read a book about it and completed the jounin level chakra control exercise."

"You mean…?"

"Fight 10 kage bunshins in 1:30…that's the one, yeah."

"Naruto, you know that to do that exercise, you must have…"

"100 chakra control? Yes, I do."

"Didn't you rest at all in two weeks?"

"Of course I did. Eventually". – Actually Naruto managed to sleep some more after he was a little ahead of schedule, but he wanted to see the looks on his sensei's face when he said (not entirely lying) that he slept close to six hours a day and nothing more.

"Ohhhh, I see."

"_This will actually be easier than I thought - _thought Kakashi. "So Naruto, let me teach you about doton jutsus. As you may or may not know, doton no Jutsu is the act of using the Earth Element. It allows the ninja to change their chakra into earth, allowing him to go into the earth and hide from his opponents, manipulate the earth in attacks or create earth to use against their opponents."

**DOTON DOYUU TAIGA NO JUSTU. **Instantly, a river of mud came to life, making the ground slippery.

"You see, Naruto."

"I did. So, how can I channel earth chakra."

"Actually, since your body is surrounded by outside chakra, you can channel ground chakraby the touch of your feet to the ground or by the touch of your hands."

"Oh, I get it. But Kakashi-sensei, I haveonly one doubt. If a ninja isn't standing on top of a ground made of dirt or mud, like you said, then how could the Sandaime channel doton chakra on the roof?"

"First of all, he was the Hokage, because of his experience with jutsus, up to the point that he didn't need to be close to an elemental nature. And when he died, he was 50 years older than you, Naruto. Eventually, you will achieve such level, the way I see earlier than he did. Bur for the meantime, you'll have to train doton jutsus like I said, until you have enough experience without it."

"Ok, then."

"So, let's see if you can perform a simple exercise. It involves creating a deep hole in the ground. Actually, this exercise is a jutsu, it's called **Doton no Jutsu **- Earth releasing technique. Perform this hand seals (Kakashi demonstrated doing the hand seals), focus and with your right hand, slam the earth with the elemental chakra."

"Ok, here I go."

Naruto did the necessary hand seals, focused some chakra on his hand and slammed it on the floor. Other than some small rocks jumped from the impact, nothing happened.

Try again, Naruto, but this time don't focus only on your own chakra, but also the ground's, try to release the chakra in your hand on the floor.

"Doton is much harder than the others."

"That's because the others actually are the elementals you're have affinity on. Now try again, and do as I said."

This time, Naruto did what Kakashi said. He channeled his own chakra in his hands, but this time, when he slammed his handon the ground, he released the focused chakra, making a huge and deep hole, completing the exercise."

* * *

**--One week later--**

One week has passed since the beginning of Naruto's training with Kakashi.

The scene shows Naruto doing a sequence of hand seals and managing one of the hardest and most chakra consuming doton technique.

**DOTON DORYUUDAN NO JUTSU****. **From the ground, a mud dragon head appeared and spilled mud balls.

"Excellent, Naruto. You did it!" – Kakashi was literally flabbergasted at his student. _Great, one time he is the dead-last, now he is a genius, what the hell happened with him? What he wasn't' like this when he graduated? _Kakashi didn't know if that happened due to Kakashinot being able to give some training for him or is that he suffered a life-time transformation.

"Another jutsu to my arsenal. What do you think, Kakashi-sensei? Can I become a chunnin?" – Naruto knew he was already chunnin level, if not higher, but somehow he wanted his sensei's recognition, as more of a signal that he was greatly improving. Naruto thought that if he got the thumps up from the Sharingan no Kakashi in terms of ninjutsus, then he was more than satisfied with the results.

"Naruto, you don't need to worry about becoming a chunnin, since you passed by far, that level". – Said Kakashi getting more proud of his student by the minute if that was possible. Kakashi thought about that and now understood Gai's interest in training Lee to be the next taijutsu specialist. Naruto would be certainly one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha if not the strongest.

"Hope you're right. Say Kakashi, who's that figure there watching us there by the trees, it appears to be an ANBU?" – Asked Naruto since he didn't sense the bastard Yamato around them, so he figured that he was other man.

"Actually, he is, Naruto. His name is Rikimaru. We are going to teach you the art of kenjutsu and katana jutsus. Rikimaru, come forward, come meet Naruto". – Screamed Kakashifor his friend to do a shunshin and appear in front of the two.

Rikimaru performed the Transportation Jutsu and appeared right in front of Naruto, shaking hands. Rikimaru, at least what Naruto could see, because of the wolf mask, had short silver hair and same measures as Kakashi, only more bulky than Kakashi, showing that he must be pretty good at Taijutsu and Kenjutsu fighting.

"It's an honor to meet you, Rikimaru-San or Rikimaru-sensei, what do you prefer?" – Said Naruto, showing once again strange sense of manner that if Kakashi didn't knew better than to expect from his student, he would be stunned.

"Rikimaru-san, would be fine. Nice to meet you. You have great tracking abilities, Naruto. You managed to find me, even though I was lowering my chakra, in order to avoid detection".

"Thanks. I learned that from Jiraya, that was practically the only good thing I got from that training". – Said Naruto mentally cursing the gray haired sannin.

"Thought so. Only a sannin would notice me. Specially Jiraya. He's one of the best trackers in Konoha, if not the best".

"Naruto, tomorrow we'll teach you kenjustu. Get some rest, remember of the doton jutsus you learned andif you manage to come with a new one, talk to me.

"Got it. See you guys tomorrow". – Said Naruto as he bowed in respect and shunshinedout of the way, leaving the two high level ninjas behind for some little conversation.

"Is this the boy who wants to become ANBU, Kakashi-san?" – Said Rikimaru, turning to lazy jounin.

"Yeah, what do you think?" – Asked Kakashi, actually wishing for his friendto approve his skills, since Naruto would be pretty much partening with Rikimaru once inside the Anbu.

"He's good. Strong, fast, very good tracking skills, excellent chakra control, good knowledge of jutsus. Tomorrow we'll see how he is, managing the katana.

* * *

**--In Naruto's room--**

Inside his bedroom, Naruto was going over the facts, now rushing throw his mind.

"I manage to add so many jutsus to my arsenal, that's possible that I forget sometimes, all of them. It's better that I take the last week before the tournament, to practice the jutsus I've learned already. I guess I could take a day or two, so I can concentrate on taijutsu. I think I'll ask either Kakashi-sensei or Rikimaru-santo spar with me".

Naruto was daydreaming again. He could visualize his nomination as Konoha chunnin, it was really a matter of time.

* * *

**--Next day--**

Next day, Naruto went out of his apartment's door, when a sudden man appeared and started a conversation9:

"Hello Naruto. Had a good night sleep?"

"Sure thing, Rikimaru-san."

"Huh! Why I'm not surprised that you were able to recognize me without my mask?" – Said Rikimaru, earning a smile from Naruto.

"I didn't know you are my neighbor, Rikimaru-san".

"Neither did I. Well, let's meet Kakashiat the Training Ground".

"Ok, then. Hey Rikimaru-san, I was wondering after this week, would you mind fighting taijutsu with me? I wanna see how I am doing". – Challenged Naruto.

"Well, all depends of Tsunade-sama's missions. If she needs me, I'll have to go. But, if that happens, Kakashi is as good as me if his laziness doesn't get the best of him. Now, let's go, before we get late".

With that, they jumped from roof to roof, very fast, being both almost in the same speed.

"I very much doubt that Kakashi-senseiwould arrive earlier than us, he's always late".

"_Naruto still doesn't know why Kakashi-sempai is always late. The real reason is that Kakashi stops by the memorial stone every single day, in honor of Obito-san – Thought Rikimaruwishing though that he could help his friend a little bit._

* * *

**--At the Training Grounds--**

Naruto and Rikimaruarrived at the Training Ground and, as usual, no sign of Kakashi.

"Late, again? One day I'll ask him about it. It can't be the same every day, there is something he's not telling me." - Naruto thought loud.

"You said something, Naruto?"

"No, not really".

"Okay. Naruto come take a look at these. These will be your katana for the time being".

"Is it your own, Rikimaru-san?"

"No, mine is in ANBU headquarters. This one my father gave it to me, when I was your age".

"Oh, I see. Well, is very beautiful and must be powerful. Your father is very gifted, Rikimaru-san". – Gifted would be an understatement, actually the reflection of the sun through the sword was so shiny that Naruto wondered how really old was this sword.

"Yeah, he is. Father is a very talented sword smith here in Konoha. Well, Let's try something, before Kakashi arrive. Since you have affinity with fuuton, try to channel fuuton chakra on the katana".

"OK. Channeling chakra. Whooah!" – Instantly Naruto looked at what were the results and gasped in amazement. He recognized this from Asuma's trench knifes.

"Very good huh!"

"Indeed".

Now. You see that rock, simply pass the tip of the new fuuton katana and you'll cut in half. Do it.

"Like this. Oh my god! How sharp is this thing? I'veread in a book that the fuuton can be used in weapons, but I didn't know it was like that. – Naruto was looking at the diagonal cut that the move caused.

"Hello everyone" - Kakashi arrived.

"Hi Kakashi-sensei - Where you've been, we've been here since 9". – Asked Naruto only waiting for his sensei to throw one of his old excuses. Narutoonce thought about commending Kakashi's creativity to always come with different excuses.

"Sorry, an old lady needed help with the groceries and…" – Smiled Kakashi scratching the back of his head.

"Uhuh… don't bother". – Sighed Naruto, while looking again at a new excuse cortesyof the creative mind of the laziest jounin in Konoha, (well Shikamaru would fill that position, but he is a chunnin).

"So, Rikimaru, what did you showed Naruto already?"

"I told him to inject fuuton chakra on the sword".

"I see. Well, Naruto, this week we'll be teaching you Katana Kenjutsu. How to handle a katana andhow to find. We are also going to teach you two jutsus":

**KAZE NO YAIBA NO JUTSU**: By concentrating chakra on the ninja's hands, the ninja cuts the air, creating a wind blade.

**KONOHA RYUU: MIKAZUHI NO MAI**: As the ninja charges at his opponent, he creates mutiple shadow copies to confuse his opponent. Using the confusion, the real ninja will attack from the opponents blindside.

"Tonari's jutsu? This will be great. I was hoping I could learn this technique". – Said Naruto, as he began his kenjutsu training.

* * *

**--Two weeks later--**

Two weeks have passed since Kenjutsu training and Naruto was found in his bedroom dreaming:

He was walking through what looked like a sewer with pipes over his head and water up his knees. He was walking until he came to the room where he cursed the very presence that've haunted his life so much through all his life, but now Naruto didn't show any hint of fear or doubt in his mind.

"_Where am I? This place looks familiar. Wait…How I can forget this place"._

"_huuhhuhuh! Naruto"._

"_Kyuubi. Really, I wasn't expecting you out of all people visiting. Usually, people just call it' no big deal, you didn't have to great me with your presence". – Said Narutoin a sarcastic manner, only to receive evil laughs out of the Kitsune._

"_You think you so strong, aren't you? I don't hear from you for ages. Do you honestly think that you don't need me? If wasn't for me I doubt you would survive almost any foe you encountered. You are weak and nothing will change that. So why the hesitation in coming for me for help?". – Said Kyuubi never dropping the big smile on his face._

"_The fact is Kyuubi-san, I don't need you anymore. I changed. I don't fear you anymore, I don't fear strongest foes. What I would like is that you could just vanish from existence, but bothof us know that's not going to happen, so I decided to accept the fact that you are living with me and let's leave it that way. What do you think?"._

"_Huhuhuuu. Naruto, so strong such words, and your expression I have to admit that it suited you better than that old brat who did nothing but cry all the time and ask for help. I as hell don't want to be inside such a weak vessel, anyway. But, the question is: Is that your new way of hiding your emotions, or is that you came to face your emotions? I remember the last time you channeled my chakra and things were quite different from what you're saying to me now"._

"_What do you think? You've made my outside fame as it is now. But, speaking truthfully, I no longer care that everyone likes me or not. Those who care for me, have my blessing, those who don't, have my pity"._

"_Really? I have to tell you Naruto. I never thought a human could amuse me as much as you do. Well, only the future will tell wether you really need me or not. Until then, I will be watching the life of my vessel continue. Do not think you were able to convince me, you know. You're pretty courageous to face me without even showing any kind of fear, but your abilities will only be shown in battle and I don't care that you beat your sensei, you were only training and he's way stronger than that"._

"_Well just sit and watch, Kyuubi-san". – Said Naruto being polite even to the fox demon, earning thoughtful glares from the kitsune._

"_Just remember, i__f your emotions are strong, I'll appear. In order for you to not release my power, you mustn't feel negative emotions, cause if you do, it will be play time for both of us Naruto and the results might not be so pleasant". – Laughed Kyuubi._

When Naruto was about to speak, his alarm rang, blinking 7:00 am. The third part will begin at 9:00 am, so Narutohad plenty of time to attend to the tournament. _Huh, Kyuubi I know for a fact that you can't leave me alone, so what good would do if I got scared of you or anything, it wouldn't change the fact that we are in this together, huh. _

* * *

**--Third part of the chunnin exams--**

From all Konoha gates, you could see important people coming like ants: Daimyous from all countries, the whole crowd. As a result of an alliance between Konoha and Suna, Gaara arrived as Kazekage, andwill be escorted to Godaime's special seat at the stadium. Ninjas from every rank appeared aroundthe dome, filling all the available seats. These would be the exam that her blond acquaintance would become chunnin. On the left side of the dome, everyone known to Naruto was seated in a row: Shikamaru, Temari (who was escorting the Kazekage), Kiba, Shino, Rock Lee, Neji, Tentei, Ino, Hinata and Sakura. A little bit up, there was seating Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Rikimaru, Anko, Kurenai and the whole jounin crowd. They all wanted to see the new Naruto, except for Kakashi and Rikimaru that already seen what is he capable of.

Jiraya was standing next to Tsunade, playing as bodyguard for the hokage.

"Would you stop trembling? You're starting to shake my chair for cry's sake". – Screamed Tsunade to Jiraya, actually having to hold the chair so not to fall on the ground because of Jiraya's trembling.

"I'm sorry, Tsunade. I can't wait". – On one side, Jiraya was trembling cause this could mean that Naruto would not be ready after all since he didn't see his training and would never think that Naruto could improve as much as everyone said he did. But on the other side, he was trembling with excitement for thinking the other way around.

"So, Tsunade-sama, Uzumaki Naruto will fight today?" – Ask Gaara, thinking about his friend.

"Yes, he will. Wait, how did you know?"

Gaara laughed pointing to Jiraya who was biting his nails andsaying repeatedly the name of the blond shinobi.

"Oh, I get it. Yes, he will. But he will be a mistery to everyone in this dome. He's changed from oil to water".

"Changed? In what aspect?"

"Seriousness, abilities, you'll see".

When everyone was seated, Godaime stood up and signify for the chunnin aspirants to approach the center of the arena, followed by the instructor. When everyone approached the centerfield, the instructor became the explanation.

"Welcome genins. You all here gathered because you passed both first and second part of the chunnin exams, which proofs that you are chunninmaterial. There is only one part left, fighting skills. The fights will be divided like this, There will be formed three groups. Each group will fight amongst themselves, in order to find the group winner. After, the winner of the groups will have a last fight amongst each other. Remember that even if any of you do not win, that just not mean that you won't be a chunnin. Dependind on your skills, if the judges hidden at the audience, think you're qualified for chunnin rank. Any questions?"

"Can we use weapons?" – Tonari asked.

"All sorts of fighting are acceptable, it would be my call to stop the fight if I see that either an opponent is no longer able to fight or prevent that such opponent can be killed. So, first group will be Tonari, suna genin #1 and iwa genin#1. Second group will be Naruto, suna genin #2 and iwa genin #2. Those whose name wasn't mentioned, will be in the last group. So, first group, get to your positions, the rest have to leave for the secure area".

"Genins, are you ready? Then, begin.

Tonari had already drawn his katana, his preferred fighting style and scared the suna ninja a little bit. Tonari went to charge the nearest genin, that happens to be the iwa genin#1. He attacked with his katana, and the iwa geninmanaged to deflect the attack with a kunai and threw couple shurikens, which Tonari simply avoided, by simply swinging his katana, in a more way. Tonari, then decided to run near to water part of the field and made some hand seals. **SUITON DAIBAFUKU NO JUTSU**

A powerful water vortex charged the iwa genin #1, who was terrified of the opponent's technique. If he realized that doton techniques are stronger than suiton, he would have an advantage towards Tonari. When the genin thought of moving away, the technique had already reached him and sent him flying, knocking his head on a tree and fainted, losing the battle.

Everyone in the audience applauded the konoha genin, who didn't lost focus on the other opponent, who was in fighting stance, just waiting for Tonari to come charging him.

"Are you going to just stand there? Or are you fighting me?"

"What don't you come and find out, then. WEAK!"

"What did you call me?"

"I said weak. What are you going to do about it?"

"You're dead".

Tonari ran towards the suna genin #1 with such intent, that he didn't notice that all the sunaninjas was doing was a explosive tag trap, ready to blow when Tonari crossed the line.

Tonari, while running, was looking straight to Naruto and remembered their fight and Naruto's advice.

"_Remember Tonari, stay focused and don't let the enemy fool you, because he will, if you let your emotions and prepotency ruin your judgment"._

So, Tonari stopped and focused his eyesight to notice that he stopped just in time to avoid the trap. Tonari ran to the side, and started throwing some shurikens at the suna genin, who just by a few inches, managed to dodge all the shurikens. All but one, actually. That one hit his shoulder, damaging the use of his arms and the use of jutsus. Tonari, didn't wait for the genin to think of something, so he ran towards the genin and landed a jab on the genin's chin, making the genin cough a considerable amount of blood.

"It's time to end this" – Tonari said, making hand seals. **SUITON SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU**

A water dragon suddenly grew so big, that it managed to block the sunlight and hit the genin, knocking him down, making Tonarithe winner of the first match, with the applause of the entire audience.

"Congratulations, Tonari, you did well"

"Thanks, Naruto-san, I owe my victory to you. If it weren't for your advice that day, I would have fallen in the enemy's trap"

"You and you only won the fight. Now it's my turn. I'm looking forward to fighting you again Tonari, and this time won't be my kage bunshin. – Said Naruto, leaving Tonari to his thinking.

"Next genin group, appear at the arena" – Said the instructor. For Naruto's part, each step he made, the audience would cheer louder in anticipation.

"Today is your day, Naruto, show them what you're made of" – Said Kakashi.

"Naruto, I know there are no way you can forgive me for what I've done to you, but I want to see what you can do. Please show me the new you". – Said Sakura with a little tear running through her cheek.

"Hang on Sakura, he will forgive you one day – No matter how much he changed, he still the same confident and friendly guy on the inside – Said Ino, trying to cheer her friend. '_For Naruto to behave like that, it would take a miracle. I wonder how much he suffered, in order to show that new look of his. I never seen such concentration from him, he really did changed, just like you said Shikamaru-kun'._– Thought Ino, looking to Shikamaru, for him to return with a smile.

"Man, that gaki changed a lot. I can't wait to see his fight. I just can't." – Said Anko vigorously, earning glances from everyone, with wonderings about what the hell happened between the two of them, much to Kurenai's laughter.

"Well Naruto-kun, you managed to change yet another kunoichi just like me and Shizune. You are indeed quite a guy. If it weren't for the fact that I'm dating Asuma, you would be one hell of a catch". – Said Kurenai, blushing a little bit at looking at the genin's blue eyes which somehow travelled through the arena, much to Asuma's secret jealousy.

"_Is Kurenai blushing because of Naruto? That sure is unexpected, wait I'm getting jealous at Naruto. That's absurd, besides Naruto wouldn't go for a woman older than him, now would he?_" – Thought Asuma, cursing Naruto's similar looks with the Yondaime.

"Second group, begin". – Said Genma.

Naruto studied his opponents; up to realize that the iwa genin #2 was not to be underestimated. Naruto could sense that the genin has large chakra capacity and could hold on much longer than the other. So, in order to test his opponents, he did the same move as the beginning of Kakashi's fight, throwing two kunais at bothof their opponents, who dodged with ease, considering the kunai passed right in front of their faces.

"Hey Konoha scum, that kunai was thrown in slow motion or what?" – Said the iwa genin, instantly regretting it when he saw Naruto smiling.

"For me, it would be impossible to get caught in such trick, but to the non kekkei genkai, it's one hell of a technique". – Said Kakashi from the stands, knowing what would happen, and earning glares from his peers. The kunais henged to Kage bunshin and punched both geninsfrom behind, to everyone's surprise.

"Ouuch! Huh? Kage bunshin? But he didn't make any handseal". – Said the genins surprised that Naruto did jutsu without the need for seals.

Since the suna genin was the closest to Naruto, he decided to end it, by performing some hand seals and say **FUUTON RASENGAN NO JUTSU. **With that, Naruto's was a direct hit at the genin's stomach, ripping all this top blouse and sending him flying backwards, spinning faster than Kakashicould see with the sharingan, knocking the suna geninto the ground. From that move alone, just everyone at the stadium were flabbergasted.

"Did Naruto just merged fuuton chakra with the rasengan?" (_Jiraya)_

"I wouldn't believe it if somebody told me". (_Tsunade)_

"Naruto knows fuuton jutsus?" Ino asked Sakura.

"I'm just astonished as you. I did not know that. If he wanted to kill the guy, that technique could cut his whole body in a second. It's a very dangerous jutsu".

"He better look out, because the other genin is charging at him".

Naruto turned and saw the other genincharge at him with a kunai at hand, so made some hand seals, showing the iwa genin his own medicine. **DOTON DORYUUDAN NO JUTSU. **Instantly, a mud dragon head appeared and shoot mud balls, which the genin managed to jump just in time and dived, in order to catch Narutofrom underground. Naruto closed his eyes and remain calm. Even though the enemy vanished, Narutocould sense his presence, by putting his hands on the ground. When Naruto sensed his presence near by, he made some seals, then after jumped away of the mud swamp who would be about to form in the middle of the arena. **DOTON YURI NUMA NO JUTSU. **Right in the middle of the field, a giant puddle of mud appeared, stopping the iwa genin's tracks for good. The Iwa genin channeled some chakra on his feet and managed to jump away from the technique, singing early victory. Before he could land, Naruto smiled and started making some hand seals, screaming **FUUTON DAITOPPA NO JUTSU.**

The wind was so strong, that the genincouldn't hold to the ground and went flying, just to see a Naruto kage bunshin hold him, in order for the genin not to bump his head and get seriously injured. But, the genin had already fainted from the strong blow. Everyone in the crowd screamed of joy from Naruto's demonstration.

"Naruto changed his whole style. And after using so many high ranked jutsus, he didn't even sweat, how's that possible? – Tentei said.

"This is the new him". – Neji concluded. "He's not on the same level as you guys, he's already jounin, without the promotion".

"You're kidding me, right? He's not stronger than me and Akamaru". – Said Kiba, with an attitude, but trying to hide the trembling as he witnessed what Naruto could do.

"Maybe we would give you the benefit of the doubt, if you weren't trembling, right now" – Said Shikamaru, smiling on the inside, about Naruto's improvement.

"Shuuut the hell up".

Meanwhile, looks of admiration and acknowledgement went through all the jounins inside the stadium and not only the ones that knew Naruto. Asuma was staring in awe of Naruto's display in fuuton ninjutsu; Kurenai was admiring his coolness while feeling the ground to sense the opponent; Kakashi and Rikimaru smirked at Naruto's brilliant display of doton ninjutsu and Anko, well, Anko was staring dumbfounded for a moment. She was staring madly at the fight, as Naruto did each move withgod damn proficiency as she quoted inside her head; her mouth was opening more and more at each ninjutsu. At the end of the battle, Anko was actually the one who started screaming for him in extreme joy, which once again received strange glares from her peers.

"_Well, Naruto-kun, it seems Anko here has a new found crush on you." _– Smiled Kurenai, while seeing the odd behavior of her friend.

But what happened next, instantly made everyone at the audience gasp in awe as Naruto used a modified version of the Shunshin no Jutsu. As Genma declared Naruto the winner, a little tornado appeared circulating him and then he vanished, appearing inside the competitor's booth, performing the **FUUTON SHUNSHIN NO JUTSU.**

"Third group, you're up" – Said the instructor.

Saito's fight was a bit of a challenge to him. Both their enemies had superiority against his katon techniques. But he wanted to show to Narutohow strong he became with his new jutsu. When the battle started, he already made some hand seals, throwing a huge fireball at the suna genin, who managed to dodge quite easily. Then, Saito engaged in taijutsustance with the suna genin. They were equally matched in terms of attacking and defending, until the suna genin landed a punch at Saito, who turned into a log andappeared right behind him, kicking his stomach. Then Saito surprised everyone when he did some hand seals and screamed **KATON KARYUU ENDAN (****10)****.**

A huge fire blast hit the suna genin and incapacitedhim in less than a second, having the instructor the need to take the suna genin away for urgent medical attention. Meanwhile, the iwa genin was just waiting for his time to attack the occupied Saito. The iwa geninwent under the ground andgrabbed Saito's leg, bringing his whole body below the ground, just leaving his head, making him lose the battle. Even though Saito lost, everyone saw him using an "A" rank katon jutsu and applauded the konoha genin.

"Winners, assemble" – Called the instructor.

"You three will now fight, for the Konoha championship".

"Begin". The iwa genin was over confident, because of his victory and charged against Naruto with a kunai. Naruto did only wait anddodged easily. Then, with a formidable speed, he caught the genin's leg, threw him up to the air and made some hand seals and screamed **SUITON SUISHUUHA NO JUTSU (11)**

Naruto's jutsu caught the Iwa genin in the air andthe wave carried him to the little river, knocking the guy from it. Then, all that was left was Naruto and Tonari and they were facing face to face, showing some fierce determination. Since Tonari was best at kenjutsu, Naruto decided to see how he was at the art.

"That only left you and me Tonari. What do you say? Let's have our swords decide". – Said Naruto summoning a katana, that at first surprised Tonari, but he instantly smiled at the challenge.

"Since when do you know kenjutsu, Naruto-sensei?" – Saito asked.

"A couple of weeks ago" – Said Naruto, taking his katana from a scroll.

"Ok then. This shall be fun, let's go Naruto-sensei".

What happened after a moment left everyone in surprise, except kakashi and Rikimaru, who were laughing at everyone's expressions towards Naruto.

"Gai-sensei, they are moving very fast".

"I know, lee. Their battle is beautiful to watch".

"Naruto applied my style of kenjutsu up to a new level. He is faster than me, but that Tonari sure is skilled and I think Hayatehad to do with this. That style is unforgivable". – Commented Rikimaru.

"Hayate was his uncle, Rikimaru-san. I'm sure as well you heard the way he regarded our pupil, right?" – Said Kakashias he smiled towards his friend who were smiling as well.

"I sure did, Kakashi-san. So it seems that Naruto became a sensei figure for them, he interest me to no end.

Naruto and Tonari were giving a katana showdown and both seemed to be at the same rhythm, slicing, defending, dodging, everything. Then, Tonari did the jutsu he learned from Hayate. **KONOHA RYUU: MIKAZUHI NO MAI**

He appeared on top of Naruto and sliced Naruto, for everyone's disapointment and utmost shock. Suddenly, Narutoappeared behind Tonari, performing some hand seals and scream **KAZE NO YAIBA NO JUTSU. **With that, he created a wind blade, cutting Tonari's arm a little bit and throwing him to the ground, losing the battle.

"How? I hit you withmy technique. How did you survive?" – Said Tonarias he was holding his shoulder from the excruciating pain that the wind sword was causing him. Actually, Narutowas having secondthoughts about winning the battle with the exact same jutsu that got his uncle killed a while back.

"Look better at your target, Tonari". – Said Naruto as he was pointing to where he was supposed to be if Tonari's attack did hit him.

"Kage Bunshin?"

"Precisely." – Said Naruto, before helping the brave genin up.

* * *

**--At the Hokage's office on the next day--**

In the hokage's room, there was Tonari, Saito, Kakashi, Jiraya, Shizune and Tsunade waiting for Naruto, who knocked on the door.

"Enter".

"You called me, Tsunade-sama?" – Appeared Naruto seeing everyone inside the room, smiling at him.

"Yeah, Naruto, please stand near your teammates".

"Ok".

"You three, at this moment, became chunnin of Konoha, congratulations. Now, being a chunnin means obviously more responsibility than being a genin. As a chunnin, you are to be team captains, being responsible when the mission is a success just as well as when the mission is not completed. A chunnin should keep his teammates at bay and protect them, but I'm sure that you three just showed to everyone that not only strong individually, team Naruto is much stronger. Congratulations, once again. Here are your outfits. The chunninoutfit involves two parts: bothoptionals. The first was Konoha's vest. The other would be the rubber suit. If the ninja wanted to keep his clothes with the vest, it was fine. – Needless to say Narutochose both outfits to wear".

"Yes!! Hey Tonari, did you hear that, we are chunnin". – said Saito.

"Yeah, I can't believe".

"And it's thanks to Naruto-sensei". – Said Saito, earning glances from everyone since only Kakashi heard them calling Naruto their sensei.

"You two passed on your own, all I did was give a few pointers. Thank you, Tsunade-sama. – Said Naruto, without much enthusiasm.

"Naruto, you more than earned the title. Actually, the ANBU chief saw your fights andwas pretty impressed. Since, the little war with Suna, Konoha lost a few ANBU, so the ANBU chief is locating new recruits". – Said Tsunade, waiting for a little reaction, andwhen it came, even if it was just a grin, she sighed in relieve.

"Really?"

"But, you have to complete 20 A and B ranked missions in one year from now. For that, you'll be pairing with Kakashi in those missions. Eventually, I'll add a third or forth person in the squad, if the mission calls for it".

"I'm ready for it".

"Naruto, the condition he set up is similar to the condition for you to become a jounin. So, when completed these missions, it would be best to upgrade to jounin then join the ANBU".

"Will the ANBUchief agree with that?"

"That's negotiable. As I said, he demonstrated a lot of interest in you".

* * *

(1) Fire Style: Great Fireball

(2) Fire Style: Mystical Phoenix Fire

(3) Earth Style: Rock Avalanche

(4) Shadow Kunai Clone

(5) Earth Style: Mud Dragon

(6) Fire Style: Fire Dragon

(7) Fire Style: Fire Missile

(8) Ninja Arts: Mist Fog

(9) By the chakra, Naruto did already sense who the man was.

(10) Fire Style: Fire Missile

(11) As well as a kage bunshin for protection.


	5. Deep wounds are tough to heal

**Chapter 5 – ****Deep wounds are tough to heal**

Naruto was walking straight to his apartment, after his promotion at Tsunade's office, now wearing his chunnin outfit. Naruto chose to wear the standard chunnin outfit, since it took away his peculiar clothing and no one would recognize him without the orange jumpsuit or even the clothes that he wore during the chunnin exams. _'I actually did pretty good at the exam, didn't I?'_

Naruto was going over what's happened at the fight and how he was able to stay calm and win the battle. Strangely, he noticed back on the third round of the chunnin exams, that the crowd was actually cheering for him. He could even fell the seats trembling from the noise. Naruto remained walking towards getting some ramen, since he didn't have time to eat it, since the beginning of the exams until he felt Kakashi's chakra not so far from where he was so he decided to go see what his sensei was doing. When Naruto found Kakashi, he was just standing in front of the ninja memorial stone, that engraved the names of ninjas that died in a mission or protecting Konoha from enemy ninjas.

"Ohayo, Kakashi. If I may ask, what are you doing here?" – Said Naruto greeting Kakashi, before noticing that Kakashi's head was down looking at the monument with eyes looking down in what appeared to be a shame look on her face.

"Uh! Oh hi, Naruto, I was just letting my thoughts take place". – Mumbled Kakashi, never taking his eyes off the memorial stone, almost like Naruto wasn't even there with him.

"I see. Well, I just came by because I felt your presence nearby, but if you want I can leave you alone". – Said Naruto as he was already turning to leave for Kakashi to clear his mind, but since Naruto really changed Kakashi was considering on letting Naruto know of his secret…the one grudge he still has that hold him to the past.

"Ok, thanks. Uhhh! Naruto, would you come here please, I want to show you something".

"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Can you see the name written on the third line, bottom up, left to right?" – Said Kakashi pointing the name so that Naruto could follow.

"UCHIHA OBITO. Who was h…?" – Asked Naruto, but when he saw Kakashi's face after the name revelation, he immediately thought better than ask more questions than his sensei was willing to answer.

"He was my teammate, when we were genins of Konoha. Actually, our team was made pretty much the same way as team 7. I was the rookie of the year while Obito was well I'm not saying the word. The Sakura part of my team belonged to a person called Rin, but no one was able to locate her after a while. Since our team was formed during the last shinobi war, there were many missions that nowadays would be an S ranked, but on that time, we only did C ranked missions. It was one certain mission that went badly". – Said Kakashi as he was picturing the events of the mission for don't know how many times.

"What happened?" – Simple and to the point. That was the only way to not interrupt Kakashi's wondering so he could tell Naruto. If Naruto were to ask many questions, it could disrupt the link and Kakashi would be hesitating to tell him.

"It was a mission that involved the destruction of a bridge that the iwa battalion used to travel, located near the grass country. I was cocky at the time, I was just promoted to jounin and I faced everyone like they were nothing. But, then, a doton technique was performed by an iwa jounin and a rock avalanche was coming the way of our team. Because I was low on chakra, I felt on the floor and wouldn't be able to survive the jutsu. Obito picked me up and threw me in a safe distance, saving me and killing him. In his last strength, he gave me his right eye sharingan. If the rocks did not cover the other sharingan, he would have given me both sharingan eyes". - Said Kakashi, holding his tears.

"I see. Kakashi-sensei we're not on a mission and no one is around. If you cannot cry with your new teammate, how can you trust him?" – Said Naruto putting one hand on top of Kakashi's shoulders in sympathy for the lazy jounin's suffering.

"The thing is that I somehow can't stop thinking that I screwed up real badly and every time I remember what happened, I just feel the need to punish my old foolish self". – Said Kakashi now surrending and tears were slowly but steadily falling though his face.

"Kakashi-sensei, now I see why you're so firm into the speech about 'those who abandon their comrades is worst than trash'. – After a nod from the jounin, Naruto continued – "I see, now. I don't know if this will help you or not Kakashi-sensei, but Obito is alive. He is alive inside you, in fact he's using his eyes to see the world together with you, he will always be where you are, since you have a part of him inside of you and I'm not only referring to the sharingan, if you know what I mean". – Said Naruto, now knowing why Kakashi was always late, why Kakashi always valued his friendship with others.

"He's dead because of me, Naruto. Other tried to convince me otherwise, but deep inside this eye is a very well reminder of that day and every time I use the sharingan, I try to hold this tears that you are now seeing. In fact I think you're the first one to see such tears". – Said Kakashi, still crying but not sobbing.

"It's hard isn't it? To have something that aids you in battle, but at the same time causes you more pain and suffering than anything you've ever seen?" – Said Naruto now reaching through Kakashi that no one had never been able to, not either the Yondaime to whom Kakashi thought as a father figure and now here was his son doing yet another feat. Kakashi upon hearing this, became wide-eyed and started looking at Naruto's deep blue eyes that if looked pretty deep, it showed nothing but sadness and painful moments. Right that instant, Kakashi understood what Naruto was talking about, but what he did then, could very well unleash something terrible to the blonde.

"Yes, but my burden is nothing compared to yours, Naruto". – Said Kakashi now stopped feeling sad for Obito and now feeling pity for Naruto, not at all realizing that what he said pretty much woke up every bottled up emotion inside Naruto and he couldn't contain it anymore. Naruto for once never liked people to feel pity for him and he understood that others had suffered as well. But what Naruto despised more than the fox itself, was for his suffering to be compared with other person's suffering, like the person saying that he suffered more or he suffered less.

"**Don't you dare compare my pain with yours. What you think that my burden can be compared to yours? Believe me Kakashi-sensei, whatever kyuubi did to me, it even compares to seeing a dear friend dying in front of my eyes". **– Screamed Naruto altering his voice to the kyuubi's without even knowing, much to Kakashi's awe staring, much to Kakashi's ultimate regret.

Now Kakashi wasn't afraid of the strong aura that surrounded his student. Such aura carried a deep burden and he didn't have to look Naruto's eyes to see that he was crying. He was crying, because of what Kyuubi caused him, but most of all he was crying only by imagining to have a burden similar to his sensei. Right there, Kakashi, somehow, grouped Naruto in a father hug while ignoring the fact that Naruto's red chakra was slowly burning his arms in the process.

**--Tsunade's office--**

Tsunade was inside her office when suddenly a powerful aura came rushing her senses and she instantly remembered sensing Naruto's chakra that way before. In a blur, she shunshined to the area where she sensed the presence and saw Kakashi hugging Naruto, while still engulfed with Kyuubi's chakra. Seeing the fact that Tsunade was scared of the kyuubi getting out, she didn't notice that the air around them carried an immense sense of sadness and she started to cry without even realizing it. Naruto's aura was the cause and she right then could feel what could be described as being what Naruto felt like growing up because of the kyuubi. Tsunade now had a glimpse of what Naruto went through and she just couldn't stop crying.

**--Around Konoha--**

Around Konoha, three girls felt as well the aura which showed them only sorrow and grief. It was chakra filled with all but negative emotions. Sadness, depression, loneliness, grief, sorrow, rage, despair. All this emotions seemed to be appearing through them all at once and the girls couldn't help but start to cry without knowing any reason to it. Kurenai, Shizune and Anko were crying and none of them knew the reason why, but they very well felt it and they all wondered who the hell could suffer like this and not lose his or her mind.

'_What happening to me, why am I crying all of a sudden. I already know this feeling, but never to such a degree. Who is causing this?' (_Anko)

'_Oh my god, my heart is crushing me, what's the matter with me, why this is happening, I can't stop crying?'_ (Shizune)

'_I never felt like this my entire life, such feelings bottled up and it's increasing madly, if this continues, I don't think I can hold it' _(Kurenai)

After some thoughts, these girls all came with the same conclusion, they didn't know for certain who was doing this, but deep inside their hearts, they very well knew just who was the person and where did such emotions came from and they at the same time thought of the only one who could suffer as much was the one and only

'…_Naruto-kun' _(Shizune)

'…_Naruto' _(Kurenai)

'…_Gaki' _(Anko)

**--At the memorial--**

At the memorial, Naruto was slowly gaining conscience, after feeling what could be described as a father hug coming from Kakashi and he turned to smile, realizing that he was not alone knowing that they were others with burdens to carry just as he did. While looking at Kakashi's arms being slightly burned, he turned to look at his sensei's eyes only to see he smiling but this time was one of the smiles that Kakashi gave when he was happy and with not a care in the world.

Because of Naruto's_ way _of putting words, Naruto made him realize that '**deep wounds are tough to heal'** but that didn't mean that they couldn't get away in time and Kakashi wanted so much to thank Naruto for what he did. Kakashi knew that Naruto vowed to never channel the fox's chakra again, but he was glad Naruto used it, since such words were kept deep inside of him and he no longer felt the burden carried by him because of Obito.

After some time, Naruto drifted to unconscious and Kakashi slowly rested him on the grass around the monument and turned to see the Godaime right in front of him sobbing. Upon seeing this, Kakashi knew that the godaime had some kind of family link with the blonde chunnin and he figured that Tsunade felt like no one the pain through Naruto's aura. Then Kakashi went to the Godaime and did exactly what Naruto did to him, he rested one of his hands on Tsunade's shoulders.

"I figured you felt Naruto's pain as well, didn't you Hokage-sama?"

"H…How could he survived all this long, Kakashi? How could he bottle up so much inside of him? I can't help but fear that what we felt was a mere fraction of how much he suffered. He is just a boy and he suffered a lot." – Sobbed Tsunade, contemplating how deep was Naruto's wound.

"No one knows Godaime-sama, only one who shared a similar path can grasp exactly how much he suffered. But I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you, Hokage-sama. Naruto could very well be a boy in age number, but I can guarantee that what he suffered, hardly can anyone suffer as much even with a hundred years to live. But he is a shinobi, he is a shinobi of Konohagakure and a very proud one if I may add". – Said Kakashi managing to calm the Godaime.

Tsunade for her part, saw Kakashi with new lights this time. She looked at his eyes and could very well see that he was still crying but a strange aura of determination surrounded him and she could very well see the white fang of Konoha's Hatake Sakumo rising once again from the ashes. _Damn it, Naruto. Even Kakashi. How can you do this? How can you manage to save everyone but not yourself._

"Kakashi, I can see your student's eyes in you". – Said Tsunade now smiling while seeing that Naruto passed his determination to Kakashi.

"Naruto has a strange ability of helping everyone, Tsunade-sama. But sadly he cannot help himself, it's like he was destined to see others happy, instead of being happy himself". – Said Kakashi now turning his back on Tsunade hiding the tears from the hokage and looking at the now sleepy chunnin.

"It is sad indeed, Kakashi. But while his abilities do not help him, we could as hell give it a try, what do you think?" – Said Tsunade, now joining Kakashi watching the blonde sleeping peacefully.

"I would sure do it, even if you didn't say so. Seeing Naruto is like having sensei here with us again and now Naruto managed to do something not even his father could do it." – Said Kakashi, looking at the sky smiling at the now deceased yondaime, where out of a sudden, a beam of light engulfed Naruto's sleepy form, showing that Minato was up there watching everything with the broadest smile on his face.

"And what would that be?" – Asked Tsunade, just waiting for the answer that the strongest jounin of the village was about to give with all honesty.

"Naruto just saved me from myself". – Said Kakashi earning a smile from Tsunade.

"I can very well see that, **Neo-white fang of Konoha**". – Said Tsunade, resting her hands around her waist, while seeing for the first time, even though it was covered by his mask, Kakashi's genuine smile upon hearing the name that made his father famous throughout the shinobi countries**.**

**--At Tsunade's office--**

After putting Naruto on his bed, Kakashi had his arms healed by Tsunade and they went to her office to start planning on the missions him and Naruto would be performing starting tomorrow. When they entered the office, they were greeted by Shizune who happened to also feel the insanely sad aura, showing very well that she has been crying as well.

When Tsunade selected the mission's scrolls that involved some A and B ranked missions, she told Shizune what happened and assured her that Naruto was okay, since he was resting inside his apartment. Shizune was relieved beyond words for knowing that her brother was okay but she was sad knowing that the aura she felt even for far away, represented Naruto's sad life and tough wounds he held while growing up. Needless to say the three saw Naruto with utmost respect.


	6. Chunnin Days

**Chapter ****6 – chunnin days**

Naruto woke up the next day, feeling like a huge weight came off his shoulders. Somehow, he was feeling better than ever. With the memory slowly flooded him, he remembered the new bonding he now have with Kakashi and he smiled greatly. Kakashi was the brother he never had and Naruto didn't want anything more than earn his _otouto's_ recognition. When he was about to go out, a person knocked on the door.

"One minute. Oh! Hello Rikimaru-san, how can I help you?" – Said Naruto greeting the wolf masked Anbu at the door, who for his part was mentally wanting to berate the blonde for revealing his identity to everyone.

"Hi Naruto. First of all, don't ever call by name when I'm wearing this mask, now Tsunade-sama is calling you at her office". – Said Rikimaru, scowling Naruto.

"Okay, sorry. I was used to address you like that, I forgot to use your codename. Now, the hokage is calling for me. Okay thanks, I'll be there."

Naruto was jumping roof to roof on his way to Tsunade's office. Little did he know that a certain pink haired girl was watching him as he passed flying near one of the hospital's windows, while doing the only thing she has been doing since Naruto's change, she sobbed.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

Tsunade was working through her papers, when a knock was heard. She was cursing herself from having to deal with what seemed like the hokage's worse nightmare, paperwork. Tsunade wanted to burn the whole pile of paper with the most damaging katon jutsu she could think of. On her mind, she was picturing a katon karyuu endan at the pile of paperwork and smiled.

"Enter". – Said Tsunade, as she came to see the blonde chunnin. She came to realize that Naruto's burden was his to bear and that Kakashi told her not to underestimate Naruto's intentions of keeping those emotions at bay, so she considered against asking questions.

"Hello Tsunade-sama, you called me? – Asked Naruto, assuming that was another one of the missions he would be doing with Kakashi, as Tsunde told him about the Anbu chief's assignment for him to be qualified to Anbu duty.

"Yeah, Naruto, come in. I have a new mission for you and Kakashi. It's a "B" rank mission. Both of you are to travel to the Daimyou's house. Apparently, his son received some death treats letters, so the fire daimyou requested a couple of ninjas to find out what's the treat and eliminate it. Actually, the further details of the mission are with Kakashi, already. He said for you to meet him at 9:30 am at Konoha's west gate. You are dismissed.

"Hai".

"Oh, Naruto, before you go…" – Said Tsunade trying to talk a little more to the gaki but he had already shunshined away in a little tornado, actually messing the paperwork a little bit.

* * *

**--At the designated spot--**

Kakashi was reading his Icha Icha Tactics when Naruto appeared with a puff of smoke. Kakashi was literally a new man indeed. After yesterday, Kakashi was actually the first one to arrive at the designated spot for their mission and Naruto noticed that, much to his surprise, since Kakashi was late for everything and to think that their talk yesterday helped Kakashi immensely.

"Hello, Naruto. Ready to go?" – Said Kakashi, returning his book inside his kunai holster.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei. I sure am. Why you are here on time is beyond me, though". – Said Naruto teasing his teammate, much to Kakashi's dismay.

"You wouldn't stop that even if I asked you, right? I'm sure you've packed for a four day trip". – Said Kakashi seeing Naruto actually enjoying himself every time he joked about Kakashi's being on time for things. "Yep. Ok, so let's get moving. The Fire Daimyou has a thing for good timing".

With that, both chunnin and jounin rushed through the forest, jumping from tree to tree in a faster pace. When nightfall became to appear, the ninjas had already covered 70 of the way, setting camp together.

"Naruto, go get some water, I'll arrange everything". – Said Kakashi as he was laying a few stuff on the ground and started accumulating wood to form a little fireplace while making a few hand seals. **KATON ATSUSA NO JUTSU (****1)**

"Back in a second, Kakashi-sensei. I heard some river noise nearby, I won't be long". – Said Naruto as he almost disappeared in a blur and rushed towards the lake that was nearby. "Here, Kakashi-sensei". – Arrived Naruto as he gave a bucket with water for the jounin to wash his face as well as leave near the fire for when they had to extinguish the fire.

"Arigato, Naruto. I see you like that little chakra exercise, don't you?" – Said Kakashi smiling because of the fact that he never thought of such a thing before and if he did it more often, he actually would increase his chakra reserves even if were only by a little bit.

"What? Oh, yeah, I do. I figured that since you're not the same as Saito and Tonari, I wouldn't have to worry about you suffering from chakra exhaustion or something. We're almost at our destination, and we have one more day. We'll arrive there in no time".

"Easy there, Naruto. If you were to do a mission with a person whose chakra capacity isn't the same as you or a jounin level, you would have to abort the mission, due to your teammate's chakra exhaustion" - Kakashi laughed, thinking that actually most jounins in Konoha still wouldn't be able to travel such a distance using chakra through their legs all the time.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I need to calm my enthusiasm. The thing is, Kakashi-sensei, with my rush training and all the jutsus I learned in what a month and a half, I can't seem to relax". – Said Naruto as he was slowly breathing in and out, as a way to calm the heartbeats a little bit.

"If you want to relax, I have a simple but 100 effective exercise for you. Take this leaf and put it on your forehead. Then, just focus all your energy on that leaf. You'll see that this simple leaf can ease your state of mind, like nothing else".

"I see that. It's like everything around us suddenly frozen, and my breathing is now relaxing". – Said Naruto as he continued to channel steady amount of chakra through the leaf and he was relaxing.

I'm glad to hear that, part of training involves taking time to learn what you accomplished, in order to see positive aspects, negative aspects, dangerous situations, everything, and most important of all, stay calm and focused. So, tell me, Naruto, how are you feeling, now that you've accomplished part of your dream". – Asked Kakashi gaining once the attention from his ex-student.

"Tsunade-sama asked the same thing. Kakashi-sensei, I'm feeling great, actually since I've been able to use more of my chakra, it seemed that I'm more at ease with myself, it must have been piling up inside my body since it's rarely that I don't have enough chakra. But regarding to what happened before, now it seems that I do not care if a person underestimates me or treat me like an idiot, I'll simply walk away from that person, you know. It's like saying "Go bug someone else".

"I see. That's good, Naruto. You should only be with the people who really care for you". – Said Kakashi as he was smiling at seeing the growth of his student, not only in a physical way but the mind as well.

"I know that. Say, Kakashi-sensei…"

"What is it?"

"It's just something that happened in the middle of the first and second part of the chunnin exams, when Mitarashi-san entered the room, blasting the window". – Said Naruto as he remembered that the snake mistress was noticing him differently than the rest of the genins.

"What about her?" – Asked Kakashi, as he was wondering why the hell Naruto would ask about the Mitarashi Anko, of all kunoichis that resided in Konoha. But now that Kakashi thought about it, Naruto and Anko did share a similar past, both being hated because of somebody else and both managed to get out alive.

"When she looked at me, I could sense some second intention there. I don't know she started sizing me up and down, with a smile on her face". – Even though Naruto was growing up faster, he tended to blush a little bit confessing to his sense that some girl could have the hots for him, much to Kakashi's dismay and intrigued look.

'_Does Anko have a crush on Naruto? No…Impossible…Is it? Well, she seemed odd when the third part of the chunnin exams were on, she was cheering for Naruto like a mad person, screaming his name in joy and admiration, could it be that? - _Thought Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei?" – Asked Naruto while looking perplexed at his sensei's reaction upon hearing what Naruto told about the snake mistress and quite frankly, it was indeed scaring him a little bit, while seeing Kakashi in deep thought.

"Uhh! Oh, Naruto, I can't say for sure what that meant for her; she is a very…active woman". – Said Kakashi, scratching his head in defeat, since he actually chose the best word he could muster as a way of describing Anko to Naruto without saying that she was a sadistic snake.

"What do you mean active?" – This was not going to be good and Naruto knew he was in deep trouble, since if Anko had that look for him, if Kakashi's correct, he may well be in big trouble.

"I mean that if she wants something, she'll do everything in order to have it and she won't rest. According to you, she was checking you out, huh? Well, the only thing I can say is that she's very persuasive. The thing is Naruto, Anko scares a lot of people in Konoha. The last guy who asked her out, well sort of asked her out woke up at the hospital from blood loss". – Said Kakashi trying not to scare Naruto too much but strangely Naruto's reaction wasn't scared and Kakashi noticed that.

"Oh, I get it, so that means she doesn't take crap from annoying people". – Said Naruto pretty much summing it up how Kakashi described Anko.

"Oh and one more thing I know about her and this one is pretty deep. She was the first apprentice of Orochimaru. That's why she knows a lot of snake jutsus, as well as the fact that she has the snake summon contract". – Said Kakashi as his hand was under his chin, while telling Naruto about Anko.

"Really? – said Naruto as he was thinking of what would've happened if something were to have between him and the snake mistress and quite frankly, Naruto was giving some thought about the idea, something he never found he would, but he did.

"You changed a lot Naruto. I wouldn't be surprised if some girl suddenly developed a crush on you, seeing as you grew up rather well. It seemed that Anko was taken aback by your behavior or even your new appearance". – Said Kakashi as he was now smiling deviously at imagining the two of them together.

"What's with that smile, Kakashi-sensei, you don't have anything…planned, do you?" – Said Naruto as he was studying his sensei's devious face showing just like he found an interesting scene at one of his books.

"Nothing, Naruto forget about it. Well, let's get some sleep. We'll rotate, you stay watching for enemies, and then I will". – Said Kakashi as he was waving his hand in front of Naruto in a negative manner, showing him to forget about it and go to sleep.

"Ok, good night, Kakashi-sensei".

With that, Naruto stayed on top of a tree log, guarding the camp and stayed thinking: _Why do I have the feeling that things will be more excited from now on. To know that Anko could be having a crush on me is something to think. I never had anyone who wanted me like that. Come to think about it, her outfit really suited her, dangerous, beautiful, sexy…wait where did that come from?"_

Suddenly, Naruto heard some bushes moving and he sensed a ninja presence nearby. So with the **KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU**, Naruto formed two clones and while one went to see who the intruder was, the other one was sent to wake Kakashi up.

"Kakashi-sensei, someone's coming…" – Said Naruto clone.

"I know, Naruto, stay on your guard".

Got it" – Said the clone just before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Kage Bunshin?? Good Thinking…'The other bunshin went to see what was going on and two kunais were thrown from both sides. The clone avoided both of them and saw two mist ninjas charging at the clone making hand seals: **SUITON SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU (2)**

Suddenly, two water dragons came charging Naruto clone with high speed. Since the real Naruto and Kakashi already arrived at the fight scene, Naruto released the clone, leaving no target for the dragons to hit and they ended heading towards each one of the mist chunnins, hitting them both. Seeing that both ninjas were regaining their breath, Kakashi and Naruto captured them and started asking questions:

"So, why were you attacking us?" – Inquired Kakashi, with a kunai on the first chunnin's throat, starting the interrogation sequence.

"I won't answer anything to you, Konoha pig".

"I see. You have two choices and I can tell that both involve you telling me everything I want to know. First, you cooperate and answer all my questions, and I'll consider not killing you both. The second one, I'll start doing several cuts on your body, until you answer".

Naruto was watching Kakashi's interrogation, the same way a student would watch a teacher. He was taking mental notes of what to do in these situations.

"Hey you, blond idiot, what are you smiling about?" – Said one of the chuunins in an angry tone much to Naruto's grin thinking about a perfect argument to induce fear at the supposedly confident chunnin.

"I don't think you're in the position to curse me. In case you do not know, there is a kunai no more than an inch from your neck and you know what would happen if I did a cut around this area". – Naruto pointed with the kunai, showing the mist ninja's veins as the enemy just swallowed in fright of seeing the cool voice of the blonde chunnin while almost touching the tip of the kunai at the guy's neck.

"Now, since we made our point here, start answering. Why did you attack us?" – Said Kakashi as he started to approach the kunai more and more closer to the other guy's neck.

"We…we ain't telling you shit". – Said the chunnin, fighting to struggle as the kunai was near his neck and both Kakashi and Naruto were releasing a little bit of chakra showing some killing intent to them, scaring the hell out of them, so they cracked and started to talk.

"We knew that Konoha would send help to assist the Fire Daimyou's son, so we guarded this place and waited for you guys to come. Our mission was to stop you from reaching the Daimyou's son".

"So, the mist was responsible for the threats at kenshin. Naruto we have to keep moving, they could attack very soon".

"I agree. But what will we do with these guys?"

Just knock them out and leave them. They won't be bothering us and they won't be of help for the others who will be attacking later. So knock them out and tie them up". – Said Kakashi as he was turning around only waiting for Naruto to do what he was supposed to do.

"Got it" – Said Naruto as he hit with a chakra infused punch at the ninjas, knocking them out and leaving them with a big headache when they wake up, Naruto and Kakashi ran like nothing before, reaching the Daimyou's house in a couple of hours.

**--At the Daimyou's house--**

As Kakashi knocked the door to the house, Kenshin was the one who answered and was a little surprised to see Kakashi at the door with a blonde ninjas dressed just like Kakashi but with a green vest instead of the dark one Kakashi was wearing.

"Kakashi-san, what are you doing here? And who's him?" – Said Kenshin as he pointed to Naruto.

"Greetings, Kenshin-san, we're here to protect you from the threats. And this is Naruto, konoha chunnin". Introduced Kakashi to the Daimyou's son.

"Ah, so you're the fourth member of Team Kakashi I heard good words about". – Said Kenshin as he greeted Naruto with a handshake.

"Yeah, I was. But kenshin-san, we have orders to protect you. Kakashi-sensei, judging from before, I sense that at least four chunnins and two jounins are nearby".

"I see, please Kenshin-san, go inside the house. We'll deal with the enemy. Naruto, make a clone to protect the Daimyou's son inside".

"OK." – Said Naruto as he formed a clone and asked Kenshin to follow the clone. Kenshin-san and the naruto clone went inside the house, as four mist chunnins appeared right in front of the Konoha ninjas.

"What could you tell from the enemy, Naruto?" – Asked Kakashi as he was getting into an fighting stance.

"It seems that the left one is stronger than the previous two we interrogated earlier. The rest of them have the same strength".

"So, I'll leave the sharigan for the two jounins then. Naruto, you take out the three and I'll take the stronger one".

"Ok. Let's see if I can throw them away"- Said Naruto, doing some hand seals. **FUUTON DAITOPPA NO JUTSU**

After Naruto's huge burst of wind, the tree were separated from the stronger one, leaving Kakashi to fight him. Naruto then, formed four kage bunshins and did his favourite taijutsu combo, knocking the first one. **UZUMAKI NARUTO RENDAN. **Then, the other charged at Naruto with fast punches, which Naruto dodged them all and landed a kick on the stomach, making the enemy cough some blood and try to breathe heavily. Naruto was, however, caught off guard, when the third one came landing a punch on Naruto's chest, hurting him a little bit.

"Nice one" – Said Naruto enjoying the fight.

"There is more when it came from, brat".

"Ok, let's go". – Said Naruto, making a kage bunshin and focusing a big rasengan. **OODAMA RASENGAN. **The big energy ball exploded on the third enemy's chest, sending him all the way to his homeland. The second one was disoriented with the kick from earlier, so Naruto simply knocked him out, doing a strong jab on his chin. When Naruto approached kakashi's fight, he was making some hand seals and screaming **KATON RYUUKA NO JUTSU. **With that, the enemy ninja screamed in pain, running away to the next river, which was at least a mile away from the location.

"Kakashi-sensei, my part is done". Said Naruto, communicating with Kakashi with a special ear plugs that transmitted conversation between the ninjas.

"Mine too. Now Naruto, where are the two jounins?"

"They are not very far, but they aren't moving, so I guess they don't know the result of this fight. Not yet anyway."

"Ok. Let's focus on resting for a little bit. What I don't know is why the mist attacking the Daimyou's son?"

"Maybe, Kenshin-san can answer that."

"Yes, I can, Kakashi-san, Naruto-san. The mist knew of my diplomatic mission to Iwa, so they assumed Konoha was forming a partnership with the rock village, so they sent these ninjas to eliminate the only contact between the villages, me".

"Naruto, when Tsunade-sama assigned this mission, she assigned as a "B" rank mission. But regarding the fact that our enemies are high class ninjas, this is an "A" rank mission so be on your guard, those are jounin level ninjas.

"I did not know that the mist would send jounins, my apologies, Kakashi-san".

"Do not worry, Kenshin-san. There is only two jounins. We are in equal advantage. I and Naruto can handle it. Two against two, right Naruto".

"Right, at least we are not outnumbered. We can take them."

From a distance, the two mist jounins concluded that the chunnins failed to assassinate the Fire Daimyou's son, so they started moving.

"Kakashi-sensei, they are coming".

"Ok, Naruto, this is the final fight. When they appear, choose one enemy and stick to him, leave me with mine".

As the ninjas appeared, they came to notice the sharingan blazing through Kakashi's eyes and knew right away that the mission wouldn't be so easy to succeed.

"Huh, Sharingan no Kakashi. No wonder, our chunnins were no match for them. Sakato, you take the blond there, I want to fight the copy-nin".

"Huh, this will be easy - Said Sakato, as he was charging towards Naruto engaging him in taijutsu. But Naruto was faster and was able to took out his katana as well as channel wind chakra through it, making a swift movement, managing to cut one of the jounin's vest sleeves.

"Do not underestimate me, if you know what's good for you". – Said Naruto as he got into the stance that he learned from Rikimaru and suddenly the mist jounin wasn't so eager to attack Naruto. He knew that the wind slice could very well kill him if it hit right on.

"You'll pay for that, brat". – Said the jounin as he was proceeding to silent killing technique, making the hand seals for the **NINPOU KIRIGAKURE NO JUTSU**, but as the fog came, Naruto made some seals of his own, screaming **FUUTON DAITOPPA NO JUTSU, **blowing the fog as a result of it. Sakato was beginning to move away, when a huge gust wind came rushing at him, extinguishing the fog created by Sakato, as well as throwing him to a tree.

"That jutsu won't work against me. The wind can very well dissipate the fog and I already saw that from Momochi Zabuza". – said Naruto as he was once again charging towards the opponent with his katana in hand.

"Now, you pissed me off, scum". **SUITON MIZU NO TATSUMAKI NO JUTSU. **A huge water cyclone charged at Naruto, leaving him with little time to dodge the attack. Naruto knew he couldn't just dodge, because the tornado would take him, so Naruto channeled chakra throughout his feet and jumped to a couple trees, completely out of the technique's range. Seeing that Sakato was located in a open space, Naruto performed some hand seals and screamed **DOTON YUMI NUMA NO JUTSU. **From out of nowhere, Sakato was trapped from the sudden growth of a swamp under him, entrapping him, leaving the opportunity to Naruto, in order to finish his opponent.

"Seems like you're trapped, aren't you?" – Said Naruto, as he appeared near Sakato, pissing him off so badly.

"Stupid brat, I'll get you for this." – Argued Sakato, but he couldn't move since the more he moved, more the mud would just squeeze him tighter, making him no room to even move his finger. Naruto actually didn't know what to do with the guy, so he sent a kage bunshin to ask Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, I've defeated my enemy, what do I do?" – Said Naruto's clone as he saw the fight between his sensei and the other jounin, waiting to ask after Kakashi kicked him and sent him flying to the forest, making him unconscious, capturing him.

"Good, I've already captured this one and already sent him for Ibiki to interrogation with my nin-dogs. Summon two medium sized frogs, so they can take the prisoner to Ibiki as well.

"Consider done". And the clone disappeared.

'He just loves that Kage Bunshin. _He was able to defeat a jounin?...I actually thought I would have to help him a little, but he did it without any help from me'_. – Smiled Kakashi. **KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU. **Next to the real Naruto appeared Gamatatsu and Gamakichi:

"Hey, Naruto, what's up?" – Greeted the two frogs as they appeared

"Can you two take this man to Ibiki to interrogation for me?" – Asked Naruto as he addressed the toads who for their part wouldn't do anything without a proper sacrifice.

"Ok, how about those chocolate bars?"

"What the hell? Again, don't you have enough of chocolate".

"Never".

"Fine, deliver him to Ibiki and I'll give you four chocolate bars".

"What about me, Naruto?"

"You too.? Fine! four to you too". – Signed in defeat Naruto, also wondering what the hell is so good about those damn chocolate bars, the frogs happen to love so much. Actually Naruto travelled with some of it, just in case the toads wanted.With that, the toads knocked the ninja out, then took him out of the swamp and took him to Ibiki.

* * *

**--At the Interrogation chamber in Konoha--**

At Konoha, Ibiki was inside his office organizing some documents, when two puffs of smoke appeared, revealing the two toads that Naruto asked, carrying an unconscious mist jounin.

"Are you Ibiki-san?" – Asked Gamatatsu, as he landed the guy on the ground.

"Yes, I am. What is a mist jounin doing here?" - Said Ibiki, actually twice in a day, since he also asked some ninja dogs about the other one.

"This ninja was captured by Uzumaki Naruto and requested a complete interrogation on this ninja the same way as the one sent by Kakashi, moments ago". – Said Gamatatsu, as he handed the man for Ibiki.

"Ok, then. Daimyou's son assassination".

As the toads vanished, Ibiki suddenly remembered that name and smiled wondering how the heal Naruto was able to capture a mist jounin in the first place _'Most impressive, indeed'_

* * *

--**At the Daimyou's house--**

Meanwhile near the Daimyou's house, Kakashi was to give the mission report to the client, but first he needed to reach for his partner.

"Naruto, assemble".

"I'm here, Kakashi-sensei".

"Okay, kenshin-san, I believe that no one will bother you any time soon. We captured their leaders and defeated their little army".

"Thanks Kakashi-san, Naruto-san".

"Let's go Naruto, we are to meet Tsunade for report".

"Ok, then".

"Kakashi-sensei, how was your fight?" – Asked Naruto, while jumping from tree to tree.

"With the sharingan, it wasn't so difficult. The guy only used suiton techniques, so my Raikiri did the job well".

"I see".

"And how was yours".

"The guy also only had suiton techniques and he did a Kirigakure no Jutsu. But, in the end, he only talked and I did the action. Since he was open and disoriented, I performed the Doton Yuri Numa and trapped him for good".

"Good, well, what do you say we speed things up a little?" – Said Kakashi as he smiled, while offering Naruto something he knew he would say yes to.

"You know I'm in favor of that exercise, all the time". – Said Naruto as he was beginning to channel chakra through his feet.

"Ok, then. Channel chakra through your feet and let's go."

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

The double managed to arrive at Tsunade's office in a day, being the first time Naruto was feeling tired. Tsunade was scared when she noticed that they've already came back.

"Report, Kakashi".

"Certainly, Tsunade-sama: We set camp at our first day trip and encountered two mist chunnins, being certain that Naruto dispatched both of them. When we arrived at the Daimyou's house, four mist chunnins appeared and we defeated them, leaving two jounins to face. Each of us bet one jounin and sent them to Ibiki for interrogation".

"I see, Mission Accomplished, Congratulations, you two. I already have the results of Ibiki's interrogations. Both ninjas, after Ibiki's technique, confirmed their intentions of killing the Fire Daimyou's son, because they believed of a possible alliance between Iwa and Konoha. And since Kenshin was the only contact between the villages, he was the target".

"Kenshin was right, then". – Concluded Naruto.

"Tsunade-sama, seeing that there were high level ninjas as enemies, this mission would have to be an "A" ranked mission, instead of a "B" one".

"You're right, Kakashi. I'll make the necessary arrangements. Go take some rest, you both did well".

Both of them said goodbye and disappeared from the office. Meanwhile, Tsunade was beaming with happiness, not only Naruto and Kakashi were okay, but also when a mission requested by the daimyou goes according to plan, the fire lord gets off her but for a little period. '_Thank you Naruto, no fire lord craps for a week, Awww at least some vacation'._

* * *

**--Outside the office--**

Outside the office, Naruto and Kakashi were walking when both stomachs started to talk and asked for food. Hearing this, both ninjas looked at each other and smile, while Naruto had the decency to ask.

"Hey Kakashi, would you like to get something to eat".

"Actually, yes. We forgot to eat on the way back."

"Good".

After eating, they went to sleep.

* * *

**--The next day--**

Naruto woke up at 7:30 am and went to his personal training ground located on top of the Hokage Mountain, in order to practice taijustu and kenjutsu. He pulled a scroll from his backpack and puffed his katana. After that, he started training some kenjutsu exercises, which involved sword attack sequences and slicing objects that was being thrown by his clones.

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared reading his book, since he somehow knew he could find Naruto training here. Actually, he was one of the few who knew where Naruto trained at all. Most of the people he knew only saw him walking around the city and always wondered how did he get so strong, since no one saw him training.

"Hi, Naruto, training already?" – Asked Kakashi but never taking his eyes off his book.

"Ohayo, Kakashi-sensei, yeah, I'm improving my kenjutsu style". – Said Naruto, while slicing every single object thrown by his clone.

"So, Naruto, I actually came here to talk to you about something".

"Something important? What is it?"

"It's about our next mission".

"What about it?"

"Neji is coming with us. It's a "B" ranked mission. A criminal organization is terrorizing a small village near Konoha border. We are to go there, defeat this organization, as well as gather information about it. That where Neji enters the plot".

"Why Neji?"

"Because he happens to be trained in information gathering, as well as good fighting skills. Why do you ask?"

"I thought Shino was better trained for this kind of situation, since he was in Kurenai's team and Neji is in Gai's team".

"Yes, he would be the next choice. But, he's on a mission with his dad and won't be here when we leave".

"I see. Ok, so, when do we leave?"

"Because of last night's mission, Tsunade said for us to leave the 2:00 pm. So you have plenty of time to rest and pack for two days travel".

"Where is the meeting point?"

"Konoha east gate, 1:30 pm".

"Ok. I'll be there".

After training, Naruto went to his apartment and started packing his things. _'I wonder if Neji is mad about being hospitalized, from my jutsu_?'

Naruto, now out of the apartment, headed for the meeting point. When he got there, he saw Neji there waiting. Naruto wasn't scared of Neji, but he didn't want to deal with him, in case he wanted to talk about the tornado on top of the Hokage Monument.

"Neji, when did you arrive?"

"A couple minutes ago".

"Oh, okay, so I arrived on time, but I see that Kakashi is late as usual". – Said Naruto resting in defeat from a supposed lost cause. Naruto once thought that Kakashi would never be late again, since he was able to say the proper goodbye to Obito and never stepped foot close to the memorial stone.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

At Tsunade's office, Kakashi and here were discussing the contents of the mission. Since it involved some criminal organization, she was worried of any alliance between them and Akatsuki.

"Kakashi, be careful when approaching the target. There are rumors that this organization works directly by the orders of Akatsuki. If that is true, Naruto would be in serious danger".

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, even if this is just a rumor, it would be best to send another team, then. Gai's team is equally prepared for fighting and information gathering". – Kakashi knew that Naruto was stronger now, but to be at bay with the Akatsuki, he still had a long way to go.

"I'm aware of that, Kakashi. But the rest of team Gai is on a mission. Apparently, a taijustu master is attacking a village nearby, so I sent Gai and his team to stop the aggressor. If you see that Naruto would be in trouble, inform me right away. I'll send someone to assist at the battle".

"Ok, Tsunade-sama. Now, I must go".

"Dismissed"

* * *

**--At meeting point--**

As Kakashi appeared at the designated spot, he managed to see that Naruto and Neji were already there, discussing about something.

"Ohayo!" – Said Kakashi, appearing out of nowhere, seeing Naruto and Neji talking.

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei, we've been expecting you. I was just discussing with Neji about the mission".

"Oh, usually, criminal organizations don't have high level ninjas. But, since they are attacking a village in the Fire Country, we'll go there and scare them away. Neji, you are going as well to help us take care of the enemies as well as gather information on this organization".

"Understood".

"Good, let's head out. Naruto and I are to go side by side with Neji following behind in order to see if any enemies are on the area or trying to attack us. Any threats, you can let us know in advance so we can be prepared. Now, let's move". – Said Kakashi as they all left with a shunshin to their destination. After a while, since no enemies were spotted, Naruto, Kakashi and Neji arrived at the place that was being attacked by the criminal organization.

"So, Naruto?" – Said Neji addressing to Naruto in a serious slash wondering manner.

"What is it?"

"At your chunnin exams, why didn't you fight seriously?" – Asked Neji remembering about the fact that even though Naruto used a lot of high level ninjutsu, his chakra capacity didn't show any signs of diminishing.

"What are you talking about? I did fight seriously".

"Do you actually think you can fool my byakugan? From the entire fight, I couldn't sense any decrease in your chakra capacity, how is it possible that you've fought seriously and almost no chakra were consumed?"

"Neji, by this time, you should've known that Naruto's chakra capacity is way beyond normality". – Kakashi said, joining the conversation.

"I already know that, but even if a ninja has large chakra capacity, even a few amount of chakra is consumed when such jutsu are used".

"Neji, don't you remember that time when I completed the jounin chakra control exercise?" – Said Naruto, earning first glances from Neji's white eyes and then suddenly he started recollecting the events.

"The…." - It was all Neji could say, before he remembered that Naruto now has 100 chakra control. The three continue talking, until Neji asked about the sudden tornado that sent him to the hospital.

"But tell me one thing…"

"What?" – Actually Naruto was afraid of such question, since Neji could very well want answers about the tornado thing he ended up hitting the hyuuga jounin.

"That tornado that sent me to the hospital. It was you right?"

"UUhh, yes!" – Naruto replied, afraid that Neji would be mad at him.

"It's very powerful, you could've used it on the exam, you would pass just by using that jutsu".

"Neji, with that jutsu, I sent you to the hospital, just imagine what I would do to a genin?"

"I think you're right".

After some time, they stopped just in front of the village in order to set camp and start the mission.

"Neji, we have one week to accomplish this mission. Scan the area as much as you please. I and Naruto will henge as local civilians and see the village's situation. We are to meet here in a couple hours for regroup".

"Hai",

"Let's go Naruto". **HENGE NO JUTSU. **With that, Naruto and Kakashi transformed into local civilians and entered the city without people noticing anything. The city population had a strange look on their faces, it was like they were used to the sudden attacks that were happening. Neji used his byakugan and he could see almost the entire city. He noticed a group of people inside a large building, talking. Neji concluded that there was the organization's hideout, since there was some chakra presence, so he hid his chakra and went for the hideout to investigate. Once he arrived there, since his byakugan did not consume much of his chakra, only a hyper-sensitive ninja would know he was near, he activated his bloodline and managed to study the whole building: the number of enemies, the hidden doors, some underground passages, how many floors.

Neji managed to study the whole structure. He even managed to take a look at the leader, since he noticed to whom all the group was taking to, as well as his chakra was the strongest of them all. When the time to meet, Neji headed for their camp and found that two civilians were there, but with his kekkei genkai, he saw that they were in fact Naruto and Kakashi.

"So, Neji, what did you find out?"

"I found their hideout and I managed to study its entire structure. The place is the tallest building on the southeast direction, with hidden underground passages. Inside, I managed to get a glimpse at our enemy's strength and chakra presences. Some of them don't have chakra at all, but very few of them have chuunin level chakra. Only what I assume is their leader, has the highest chakra level".

"Well, I and Naruto took notice of what they are doing in the city, it seems that they are trying to take over the place, by treating the city mayor, causing a big fuss, when they don't want to pay for food, they destroy everything. Today was just a preliminary study. Tomorrow, let's ask the citizens for information".

"Understood. We must rest, then. Who takes the patrol for today?"

"I'll be doing today, and then tomorrow is Naruto's turn, then you Neji". - Said Kakashi before entering his tent.

* * *

**--Next day--**

On the next day, the entire group henged to civilians and went inside to question the population. Naruto obtained the name of the organization. Kakashi obtained the date that the organization started the attacks and Neji knew about their leader. At meeting point, on the end of the day, they exchanged information.

"You go first, Naruto".

"Ok. The organization is entitled the Red Dragon, and all its members have a ring on the left hand and use vests with a red dragon labled on it"

"My turn. From a local that I asked, they started the attacks two weeks ago, but they only started this mayhem until four days. They were all this time, threatening the city mayor and taking over what is now their hideout that Neji found yesterday."

"Ok, I managed to know who their leader is. His name is Hanzou and he is a missing-nin from Suna. Actually, he was a jounin there. He has affinities with Akatsuki, from what I heard, but I'm not 100 sure if they know what a Jinchurriki is, so we can be safe about Naruto's situation."

"I'm glad to hear that, actually. Now, it's not the time to run into Akatsuki, we have a mission to complete. Ok, team, we have to neutralize their entire hideout, if we want to clean this city. Tomorrow, we'll enter from underground and take out most enemies with stealth".

While Naruto was guarding the camp, he noticed a presence approaching their camp. He had to act fast, because such person was coming real close. He dropped from the tree he was sitting into a bush, then he started walking slowly in a way as to not make noise and appear behind the enemy, who Naruto managed to see a Suna ribbon on the guy's forehead. With speed, Naruto knocked the ninja out with a blow near the neck, making the ninja to fall down.

"Kakashi-sensei, wake up!"

"What is it, Naruto?"

"I captured a suna ninja, that was approaching our camp, he is tied outside, come here".

"Ok. Hey Neji, wake up."

"I'm up, what is it?"

"Come outside."

The team got out of the tent, only to see a Suna ninja tied up to a tree, with a Suna ribbon with a transversal cut on it, as well, signifying that he is a missing nin.

"Naruto, who is he?"

"I don't know, he was approaching here fast, so I didn't have time to call you, so I knocked him out stealfly and tied him for interrogation".

"He is a missing nin, so Suna must want him". – Neji said.

"Here is what we're going to do. Since this is a problem created by Suna missing nins, I'll write a letter to the kazekage and tell him of the situation, as well as tell him to send a team to Konoha to take these prisoners".

"So, now we have to capture the suna ninjas, not just eliminate them" – Said Naruto.

"This is one hell of an outcome. Because of Konoha's relations with Suna, we must send these missing-nins to them". – Concluded Kakashi.

"I think Gaara would be pleased to arrest these guys".

* * *

**--In ****Suna--**

In Suna, Gaara was doing his job as Kazekage, when a Suna jounin came entering the room. Since losing Shukaku and almost his life, the now non-demon vessel turned to really appreciate the second chance that was given to him by Naruto, so now he is much closer to his brother and sister, as well as the fact that he tend to show a grin or two ever now and then, but not losing his authority figure.

"Kazekage-sama, letter from Konoha copy-nin Hatake Kakashi":

"Hand it to me".

"_Kazekage Gaara,_

_In mission to a Fire Country's village, I, Naruto and Hyuuga Neji managed to find out that some missing nins from Suna were terrorizing a village in Fire Country. We already captured one Suna chunnin missing-nin and sent him to Konoha. We'll do our best to capture the totality of missing-nins that are in this village. Apparently, they formed a criminal organization called "red dragon". We also know that the organization leader is a Suna Jounin missing-nin called Hanzou. Please, send, in a five-day period, a team to Konoha in order to take these prisoners._

_Hatake Kakashi_.

Gaara was surprised that these ninjas would do something like that. He was infuriated to say the least, because of the fact that these missing nins could very well ruin Suna's relations with Konoha.

"Get me Kankuro and Temari here".

"Hai, Kazekage-sama, right away"

10 minutes later, Gaara's brothers went inside the room:

"You called us Gaara?"

Yes. Konoha jounin Hatake Kakashi found some Suna missing-nins attacking one of their villages. He, along with Naruto and Hyuuga Neji will try to arrest all of them and send to Konoha. Please, you two, form a team and head to Konoha in 5 days, to deal with these criminals.

* * *

**--At K****onoha--**

The second hawk arrived at Konoha and the letter was given to Tsunade by Shizune:

"What is it, Shizune?"

"A letter from Kakashi-san".

_Tsunade-sama,_

_In our mission, we found out that the organization is formed with Suna missing nins. We'll try to capture them and send to Konoha to guard them until Gaara's team arrives. I've already sent a letter to Gaara, explaining the situation. For your knowledge, I request that Gaara send a team to recover their prisoners in five day time. This is enough time for us to capture them and send them to Konoha._

_Hatake Kakashi_

"This will improve our relations with Suna. Shizune, contact Ibiki. Tell him to make space for some suna missing nins".

* * *

**--The next day--**

The next day Team Kakashi went to the doorway the lead to the organization hideout and entered.

"Kakashi-sensei, how will we transport all the suna ninjas and finish the mission".

"I can't believe that you out of all people, don't know how to do this. After all, it's your favourite jutsu". – Said Kakashi as he was smiling in a sadistic way, since he wanted for some time take a picture of Naruto's exhaustion.

"What do you mean….Kage Bunshin?" – Screamed Naruto thinking about his ex-sensei and now surrogate otouto's sadistic way of thinking.

Precisely…after capturing each one, we have to secure that they won't escape, so we have to tie them all".

"Easier said than done, Kakashi – Neji said.

"How many can you see with your byakugan?

"Right now, there are 20 scattered all over the floors".

"There is 20 bunshins for you, Naruto. But, the difference now is that you cannot dispel them, make the clones as security guards of the suna captured".

"It looks I have no choice, then".

"No, you don't" – Kakashi laughed.

When they reached the end of the passage and the doorway to the building, Neji found only two ninjas guarding the entrance. Kakashi and Naruto opened the door and knocked them down with superior speed and Naruto started his Kage Bunshin sequence and two Narutos appeared. The clones carried the suna ninjas outside and tied them together on a tree, standing as guards, until the real Naruto said so. Three more were walking on the right direction, so Naruto, Kakashi and Neji took care of one and again Naruto made three bunshins.

"Kakashi, will Naruto be able to hold 20 clones?"

"I sure hope so". – Said Kakashi, smiling at Naruto, who was giving killing intent looks at Kakashi.

In the next room, there were five suna ninjas, so they had to divide the group by calling some attention. Naruto summoned his katana and hit the wall, making a sound that reached the suna ninjas. The plan worked and three ninjas decided to see what the sound is. From out of nowhere, Naruto, Neji and Kakashi knocked them out and again Naruto made three clones.

"12 more to go, Naruto".

"You can make clones, as well, Kakashi-sensei. A little help is nice".

"If the situation asks for it, I will".

'_Like hell you will, you sadistic prick'. – _thought Naruto.

Neji entered the room quickly and hit some tenketsus, disrupting just the necessary chakra for the ninjas to pass out, and again, two more clones from Naruto. By the 19th and last ninja, before the boss, Naruto's 19th clone was barely made, as Naruto went down to one knee, because of the fatigue of holding 19 clones.

"Naruto, take this. It's a soldier pill. You'll need this for the big boss".

"Thhanks Kakashi-sensei" – Said Naruto almost passing out.

With Naruto now 100, they entered the room where the Suna jounin was sitting on the center of it. "Neji, here is the plan. I'll go behind them and pull a kunai at his neck, you hit his tenketsus".

"Got it".

Behind the jounin's seat, Kakashi appeared putting Naruto's Katana right close to the neck area, warning him not to make a move or else….Neji went with great speed and did his jutsu, hitting 64 of his tenketsu points, knocking him down for good. Naruto did the last clone to carry the jounin out of the hideout.

"Neji, can you find any other ninja in the premises?"

"No. There are only criminals, now".

"Good, then, let's take care of them quickly".

"Let's go".

With every thug taken care of, all three went outside and found 20 Narutos guarding all the suna ninjas.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I dispel the clones?"

"Let me think. How are you now, Naruto with the soldier pill?"

"I'm 100, why?"

"Can the clones travel with us to Konoha?"

"It's possible. But if they wake up, I won't be able to hold them from escaping".

"Let's put one extra clone for each ninja, then".

After, Kakashi made 20 clones and Konoha's new army headed back to Konoha.

* * *

**--At Konoha--**

When they arrived in Konoha, the guards were surprised to see the scene of 20 Narutos, 20 Kakashis and Neji carrying 20 suna ninjas.

"Hey Kotestsu, could you call Tsunade-sama to send someone to collect these ones, please?" – Asked Kakashi, almost exausted.

"Hai, Kakashi."

2 minutes later, appears Tsunade and a class of academy students to carry all the ninjas, with the assistance of three jounins to Konoha Jail cells.

"Kakashi, Naruto, Neji, good job. The genins will carry them to their cells".

"Oh, great…." - Said Naruto and Kakashi, almost fainting on the ground.

"Tsunade-sama, I have to go to the hospital immediately, I cannot hold myself" – Said Naruto almost faiting from the extreme exercise.

"I'm with Naruto, on this one, Tsunade-sama'.

"Kotetsu and Neji, please carry them to the hospital."

"Hai, Hokage-sama".

* * *

**--At the Hospital--**

The next day, Kakashi and Naruto opened their eyes only to see that they were at the hospital. Once the nurse noticed, she summoned Tsunade and she appeared right away with Shizune, Temari and Kankoru.

"Good. Both of you woke up. You don't need to tell me. Neji filled me up with the mission. As we're speaking, Suna is traveling with the prisoners to their village".

"Actually, Suna's policies with missing nins are different, we don't care to judge them, if they're dead we're satisfied. But, since you guys captured them all, it's fine as well". – Said Temari, smiling at the sight of the one who saved her brother from shukaku and now was capturing suna missing nins.

"Well, I prefer not to take any chances. I didn't know anything about them, better capture them than kill them and regret it. – Said Kakashi, earning nods of approval from the wind kunoichi, while Naruto was being reprimanded for such carelessness regarding his chakra capacity or the lack of it being the case.

"Naruto, just because you have an enormous chakra capacity, does not mean you can do something like that. Kakashi almost fainted and he is a jounin". – Lectured Tsunade, earning annoyed looks from Naruto who mentally was beating Kakashi to death since the whole ordeal was his damn idea".

"Don't blame me, it was this lazy bum right here who gave the idea, I just complied." – Said Naruto, making everyone giggle at the interaction between teacher and student and for Tsunade to put her hands on her forehead massaging her temples wondering if Naruto would eventually give her a heart attack.

"I resent that, Naruto. My plan actually worked and besides I didn't see you give any ideas. Now did you?" – Replied Kakashi as he continued to read his bible (Needless to say more about it), much to Tsunade and Temari's disgust at hearing Kakashi's porn giggles that resembled like the pervert for a sannin Jiraya.

"Okay, Naruto but next time, try to assess better the situation so not to suffer from chakra depletion again okay?"

"Yeah, I know, thank you. Hehehe" – Laughed Naruto much to the surprise of Tsunade, '_he is happier now than ever, that's a relief'._

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

After a little while, Tsunade went to her office so to look for Naruto's next mission which involved document retrieval with the assistance of another jounin, since Kakashi was out of duty until his chakra was back in business. Kakashi was suffering deeply since he ended up using the sharingan and would have to stay out of this mission so to recover 100.

* * *

**--Next day--**

As Naruto and Kakashi were released from the hospital, Kakashi with the help of Naruto was taken to his apartment so to sleep all day long. As Naruto was going to his apartment in order to rest as well, a chunnin appeared saying that Tsunade requested his presence at her office, probably for another mission.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

Already inside her office, Naruto stood before the hokage and shizune while the first one was revising some document. Apparently, an Anbu mission encountered some missing nins from Iwa and suffered some casualties. Nothing fatal but troubling, but since Naruto was there, she decided to just pass him his next mission and then handle the Anbu situation.

"So Naruto, since Kakashi will be out of active duty for another day, your mission will be with another jounin of my choosing. The mission is an A ranked mission and it involves Orochimaru in a way. You see, the bastard had a thing for kinjutsu and he happened to gather quite a few of them throughout the shinobi countries and put it inside a scroll. Said scroll is located inside one of his old bases. This information was given by Jiraya's informant and so is not to be taking lightly. Even though the base is old and inhabitated, they were information that Orochimaru puts some jounin level ninja to protect the base from secrets and stuff. Any questions?"

"Just one, who will be my partner in this mission?" – Asked Naruto, but regretted when he saw the smirk of Tsunade's face and that itself meant trouble.

"She personally requested missions regarding the snake sannin. I'm pretty sure you know who said person is don't you Naruto?"

"As a matter of fact I do" – Said Naruto, since the one person who ended up requesting mission regarding the snake sannin could be only one person, the one who pretty much was passing through his head even before the mission information with Tsunade, the one who looked Naruto as if she was looking at a piece of meat. The one and only Mitarashi Anko.

* * *

**(1) Fire Style: Heat Gathering**

**(2) Water Style: Water Dragon**


	7. Awkward Situation

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* * *

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Chapter 7 – Awkward Situation

Naruto woke up the next day, thinking about the mission with the so called snake mistress that happen to be invading his constant thinking since the second part of the chunnin exams. As he got through the morning ritual, he turned to pack for the somewhat long term mission, being this situation the most frightening for Naruto, the reason being to be alone with the Mitarashi Anko and if if Kakashi was right, Naruto was certain that the mission would be far from boring or annoying. The look Naruto received from the tokubetsu jounin back at the chunnin exams was filled with 'second intentions' and he knew from Kakashi what she's capable of, if given the chance. But, Naruto was caught wondering about what would be like, actually to a point that he kind of enjoyed thinking about it.

Another thing Naruto was thinking was the age difference. She is 25 years old and Naruto was 16 – 9 years of difference. Why would a jounin like herself want with a recently promoted chunnin. For sure, he knew that he showed to her something she wasn't expecting, which, assumed Naruto, was the main cause of Anko's looking directly at his eyes the way she did. Little to Naruto's knowledge, Anko actually was drooling over the chunnin's appearance, thus the fact that somehow Naruto just practically exhaled gusts of experience from his body. To Anko, she felt that Naruto was 10 years older. Those aspects did to Anko what every fan girl had with Sasuke. As he got out of his house, he went to the meeting point that the Hokage told him to get to.

* * *

**--With Anko--**

Anko for her part also did her morning routine. She was pondering on the mission, since it involved Orochimaru, her late sensei and the one who practically ruined her life for good. After she was rescued by the Anbu searching squad some time ago, she was transformed into a sadistic person, gaining snake like personalities, hence the fact that she cut Naruto's cheek once and used her tongue to taste Naruto's blood like a reptile, before devouring his enemy. As she was finished dressing, she remembered her partner on this mission, the one and only Uzumaki Naruto. Now, the blonde chunnin certainly was an enigma to her. Just three years ago, he was an obnoxious brat who didn't know how to settle down. Now, Naruto changed in a way that she was actually having troubles viewing that the new Naruto, who she believed was strong, determined, experienced, was once the little brat that literally got into her nerves quite easily.

But also there was the feeling she couldn't let go of it. It started when she sensed that strong yet extremely sad aura emanating through the village. She still wasn't sure it was the gaki, but somehow inside her, she didn't need to look for other clues or facts. She knew that the aura was being emanated from Naruto and besides Anko did manage to certify the aura's bloody red color, to Anko was actually worse than poison, since even though it not attack the body directly, it attacks the one part which makes us human…the heart.

* * *

**--At the Dango place--**

Anko arrived at the dango place which is where she wanted to meet her co-workers when on missions. This place was her sanctuary, her place in konoha. Dango was the only thing capable of changing her mood completely. Every time, after a tough mission, she came almost wanting to cut some flesh and managed to get out with a smile practically visible through her face features. To sum it up, dango to Anko was like ramen to Naruto. As she ordered the usual which consisted on a portion of dango and tea (sake at night), she noticed that someone arrived the place. But said person wasn't just anyone, said person had blonde hair, deep and exhilarating blue eyes and the most noticeable and indistinguishable feature…fox like whisker marks now much defined than ever, giving him an air of an untamable beast, which make Anko smile, simply because such a feral look actually turned her on.

For Naruto's part, as he arrived, he noticed the person that was pretty much renting his thoughts since the chunnin exams. Mitarashi Anko. As he was walking towards her direction, he turned to study her features, Naruto was secretly seizing her up and he got to admit, she was so damn beautiful. Everything about her was just wonderful. Her hair, her devious smiles (which Naruto realized that they were the same since back at the chunnin exams), the way she dresses was simply amazing. Her trench coat and Anbu leg protectors gave her the look of remarkable and well-respected seasoned Anbu kunoichi and the damn sexy features managed to put Naruto into a frenzy state for a second. Deception was indeed a ninja's great asset and if Naruto still showed that he was looking at her like that, she would discover the whole ordeal, which was something he didn't want. Already calming himself, he managed to see such a smile being formed and he could do only thing…play the same game.

Seeing the lack of need of prolonging the looking confrontation, Anko turned to speak to the blonde chunnin, by addressing him quite differently. "It seems you're late there, foxy? I arrived here a couple minutes ago and already ordered." Naruto for his part, after hearing the way Anko just called him, entered in thinking mode. '_Foxy, what's up with that...Wait, that sound very good.'_ "What's with the foxy thing now Anko-san?" – Asked Naruto, trying to sound as professional as possible, but Anko smile seeing that he seemed to enjoy the nickname, which came as a surprise to her, considering the fact the nine-tails _should _be a though subject for her, just as her curse seal and the snake sannin, but to her surprise, he was smiling at the name. "What, you did like it, didn't you? I can see in your eyes that you liked it".

"Well, I did like it, but it's the first time I heard though, no big deal". – Said Naruto, still smiling towards the snake mistress. After that, he ordered some dango for him which earned a question look from Anko from seeing Naruto not eating other than ramen, but when she questioned him about it, he said that he didn't always eat ramen like he did in the past, but later Anko learned that the real reason Naruto only eat ramen, was because old man Teuchi was the only one who charged him fairly and even gave him free meals on occasions.

After a quick shared meal, both ninjas passed the south gate in direction to Orochimaru's last hideout, in order to retrieve the document containing forbidden jutsu studies, therefore, completing their assigned mission. Well by seeing both of their faces, it was quite comical to realize that no one wanted to say the first words and also both of them were somewhat blushing which could pretty much guess that inside, each of them would imagine the other naked or doing something **arousing** to say the least. Anko, being the pervert that she was (sometimes in private, sometimes just to tease her friends), was imagining Naruto naked massaging her neck with extreme efficiency, thus whispering some dirty talk through her ear. Naruto for his part, was actually having some perverted ideas as well, hence the fact that during his travel with Jiraya, he tried to read one. Naruto's mind was imagining making out with her quite passionately, while ripping each other's clothes, pretty much leading the hormones take its course. Since Naruto was slightly ahead of her, none of them could spot the other's nosebleed at the thought.

The ninjas would have to face a three day travel, so silence wouldn't help at all. They would get nervous on the mission and it wouldn't be recommended. This idea passed through their minds as well, but the first image on their heads just didn't vanish, so in result no one could turn and initiate a conversation. Anko was top of all feeling somewhat strange. She never felt in such a way towards a man and all those times she came to tease…well…everyone, she did as a way to scare the hell out of people by thinking of her sadistic nature (which existed, but not in the way she showed when teasing people). The blonde in front of her was causing such reaction on her and she was starting to worry about it. The last time she let a man be welcomed to her life, she got the curse seal as a result and became known as the snake lover, snake bitch, snake slut. Every bad nickname people could associate with snake, she would be called by it. She just didn't want to be betrayed again, now scratch that, she couldn't live to feel the same way again, since that day the curse seal was a very well reminder of how much she suffered that day.

Finally, after two hours of jumping and not saying anything which was irritating both of them, since no one apparently was able to form an actual sentence, let alone open his or her mouth so that a word could manifest through it. Finally, Anko was able to talk, silently thanking the mission for providing at least professional conversation between the two of them. "It's getting dark, let's set out camp for today, foxy". – Said Anko, still looking forward, not knowing if she was doing that to avoid eye confrontation or something else. "Okay, then". – Said Naruto, letting out his breath that he was somewhat holding in anticipation over being alone with such a woman. Sure Anko was beautiful, to Naruto she was more than that, but now they would be alone with each other and he was slightly nervous, practically feeling like on a date.

After they stopped, each of them set for the specific tasks. Anko stopped to fix the tent, while Naruto was in charge of collecting wood and picking some water near a river a few miles from the place they stopped. As Anko finished with the tent, Naruto appeared with some wood for fire and a full water bucket for them, dropping them on the floor between two logs, being perfect for camping issues and they didn't need to sit on the floor. Since Naruto did not know katon jutsus, he turned to Anko if she would be so kind as to light the fire for them. Anko for her part was shocked that now famous Uzumaki Naruto didn't know any katon jutsu and when she asked why he didn't learn one, seeing that katon element is Fire Country's landmark. Little did she know that Naruto's answer would cause her to see him with different eyes.

"Even though Katon jutsu is on the list to learn eventually, having a stronger affinity for fuuton and weaker affinity with suiton, pretty much made me unique throughout Konoha, with only Sarutobi Asuma other than me, being a wind user". – Said Naruto, smiling with pride in his eyes because of his rare affinities. Anko, after hearing the exquisite answer from Naruto smiled understanding. Elements such as wind were rare to appear in Konoha and right now only two ninjas were wind users, Naruto and Asuma, so because of it, such abilities were feared because of little to no knowledge on how to beat a wind user. But she remembered that he did wish to learn katon jutsus, so she decided to teach him, not only to improve his jutsu arsenal, but also to spend some time with the guy who by the way keeps sending sexy images through her head (not that she minded though, being who she is).

As they were talking, Anko was beginning to feel hypnotized by the beauty of his deep blue eyes. Normally she didn't like the regular uniform of Konoha, but strangely, she thought it suited him well and since the rubber blouse stocked to his body, Anko could very well spot his muscles and tone body under it. But what intrigued her to no end, was how a guy like him could change so much. It seemed like yesterday, that he was this annoying kid with a happy smile and now this sexy powerful man. "Say, foxy, how did you manage to change so much in such a short period of time?" - Asked Anko, waiting to know more of the blond fox. "Well, it all started when I, Sakura and Anbu captain codenamed Yamato was returning from a mission involving the Uchiha's retrieval. The mission was a complete failure and everyone in the team was blaming me for everything. A certain person appeared, changing the mission's course entirely and I ended up channeling the kyuubi's chakra in order to fight the guy. To sum it up, all I did was get tired and wasn't much help with the rest of the mission. Actually, I was carrying the hate of almost everyone in Konoha mistreating me and underestimating me. Once Yamato and Sakura blamed me for everything, that was the slap in the face I needed to wake up and realize that I needed to get stronger and not depend on the Kyuubi".

Anko was listening intently the mission description and wondering why the hell they blamed him for the mission failure. She knew that certain shinobis could actually go toe to toe with a jinchuuriki, but to imagine an Anbu captain like Yamato blaming him it was ridiculous. But she chose not to go through with such mission, since Naruto seemed pretty down about it, so she just let him talk. "After that, I requested time to practice for the chunnin exams so that I could train with my affinities and cover some areas I was having trouble with. For the third part, Kakashi-sensei taught me some doton techniques and kenjutsu together with a friend of his from Anbu". Anko, after hearing this, was surprised to say the least. Images from his fight at the chunnin exams now were showing inside her head. "I see, that fight was pretty amazing at the chunnin exams, foxy. Now, you're a chunnin…_a very handsome one as well…_then what?".

Anko and Naruto continued their conversation with Naruto sharing the reason why he wanted to become a part of Anbu special forces and to say that Anko was surprised, it was an understatement. When Naruto told her that he wanted to be below the curtains, protecting Konoha with the Anbu mask, she was trying to remember the very same person aspiring to be hokage like three years ago. But after he explained why, Anko understood that because of Naruto's burden, he wouldn't have the respect or the admiration that came with the hokage position. In fact, Anko understood that most than anyone, because of her damn curse seal.

Anko knew she was knowing Naruto like he was inside. Naruto was still remembering those days when he was cursed by everyone that made contact with him, but differently from before, Naruto was smiling instead of being angry, scaring Anko a little bit. Mental stability was tough to maintain after seeing some things and Anko knew very powerful shinobis dead by becoming mentally unstable. But after looking intently at the blonde, she relaxed, knowing that the kyuubi inside him made him see worse than anyone and if he survived until now, it would be very unlikely that any event would make him unstable.

After a while, Anko realized that if they didn't rest, tomorrow would be one hell of a time to do the mission. So, she decided to call it a day and say Naruto, good night. Anko couldn't sleep. She knew she had feelings for the fox, but it was something more. Her feelings for him were getting stronger. Naruto opened his heart for her and showed her what a true ninja is. Deep inside, she wanted to be close to him that night. Being the straight forward that she is, she went to see how he was doing. When she arrived at Naruto's tent, she was surprised to see that Naruto couldn't sleep as well. When she asked, he smiled saying that he was wondering about their talk a few minutes ago and the fact that when he was talking, he felt like Anko could understand what he went through. "I think we had similar pasts, Naruto. I presume you already know about Orochimaru and myself". – Anko then got to talk about her troubled past for the first time since the sandaime and she was feeling much lighter as the time went by.

Naruto understood everything and right now was seeing Anko differently. Gone was the sadistic bitch who seemed to enjoy the view of blood coming out of flesh wounds. This Anko was the fragile Anko who didn't want to come close to anyone, fearing that just like her sensei, she would be betrayed yet again. After she shared her past and the way she coped with all of it, she turned to ask him how did he came in terms with such a horrible past. "With time, I guess. I was born alone. The orphanage was hell for me, even when Sandaime bought me an apartment, my live wasn't any different. But after some time, I stopped asking myself as to why I was hated. After I managed to graduate from the academy, Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei pretty much saved me from myself, teaching me that not everyone behaved like that. Then Jiraya (even though the old bastard didn't taught him anything, doesn't mean that he didn't befriend him), Shikamaru, Tsunade-sama and Neji. They became close friends of mine. And now you" – Said Naruto, smiling towards the snake mistress, earning a look of surprise from her. "What about me, foxy?"

"I don't know why, but it seems that I can't stop thinking of you, Anko-san, since our encounter at the second part of the chunnin exams, I was caught wondering about you. Now, that we are talking, I can't stop thinking how much we have in common and such feelings I have for you is different from the others". – Said Naruto, now looking down so as to wonder the repercussion of such words towards Anko, but unbeknownst to him, Anko was actually feeling the same way towards him. "Is that a fact Foxy? Is it possible that you have feelings for little old me? I'm flattered. You do realize that I am almost ten years older than you, right?" – Asked Anko, teasing the blonde on the outside, but on the inside was in turmoil. She thought about him constantly, but the problem was the age gap, she didn't want to fall for him just for age to come bite her in the ass, saying that such things do not intend to happen. "It doesn't matter to me that you are older than me, you've been in my mind constantly and we have so much in common". – Mumbled Naruto, earning one of the first genuile smile coming from Anko that even she didn't remember the last time she smiled like that. The reason was simple. Anko wanted to be with him, but she was afraid that Naruto wouldn't like her because of the age.

"Foxy, I'm going to let you on a little secret. I happen to love whisker marks" – Said Anko, initiating the teasing competition between her and the number one prankster of Konoha. "Oh really Anko-chan, I got to say you don't look so bad yourself Anko-san." – Said Naruto, showing his evolved prankster side, which to a experienced teaser like Anko it meant like "you're hot". "I gotta tell you Naruto, that new looks of yours really suited you. Actually foxy, I feel very lonely on my tent, so you wouldn't mind if I sleep here with you, would you? I'd like the company, you know?". Sure, but I'm not responsible for what happens" – Said Naruto, smiling deviously, turning her on a little bit. Anko for her part was enjoying the teasing immensely. She never found anyone who could tease her just as much as she teased him and that very fact alone earned some more perverted images inside her head. "Tell you what, Naruto-**kun**, when we come back, we'll have some good time together."

"Sounds good to me Anko**-chan**, I'm actually looking forward to it. Now, let's rest a little bit, we have a timetable and if we speed things a little, we can have an early date". – Said Naruto, lying down with Anko following him before nodding in approval of his idea. Naruto and Anko had their best sleep ever in their lives and woke up a little late.

* * *

**--On the next day--**

On the next day, the sun was sending a wakeup call to the sleeping couple, by illuminating inside Naruto's tent. They didn't want to think of waking up and pass the moment they were giving. Naruto was sleeping with face looking up and Anko was lying on Naruto's chest, and a smile could be seen from a great distance on her face. Even though, Anko had a different thing in mind for the blond, she enjoyed a lot sleeping with him, which proved that this wouldn't be a one night stand. Quite the opposite, in fact. Unfortunately, for them, they had to wake up, because of the mission. Since Naruto woke up first, he went outside to prepare some breakfast. After some time, Naruto came with a bottle of water inside the tent, but when he entered he came upon a scene of a happy sleeping Anko. _She must be dreaming about something nice, I wonder if it's me._

Anko for her part was dreaming about her and Naruto near wave country, just lying down on the beach, enjoying the time spent together. When the sunlight entered her tent, she woke up feeling somehow better; it was like she slept the whole day, even though they only slept for three hours. Anko was lying down thinking about what just happened. The cuddling, his chest was so warm and cozy. Anko was remembering a specific fact when they were sleeping, that Naruto's arm was hugging her and she felt comfortable in his arms. A few moments later with breakfast taken, both packed their things and started jumping from trees to trees. They were a little bit behind schedule; nothing like Naruto's little exercise to help things out a little. "Foxy, we have to speed things up a little, if we are to arrive there on time. "Don't worry Anko-chan, I have an idea. It's something I used to get to the tower at the 2nd part of the chunnin exams.

"What is it?" – Asked Anko, now amused with the fact that Naruto's team beat the old record the suna siblings made three years ago. "Chakra enhanced jumping. It's very simple really. For every two hours traveling, the next half an hour we channel chakra on our feet and increase speed dramatically. Kakashi-sensei said to only use this exercise, when your team or partner have the same amount of chakra as my own. Due to the fact that you're a jounin, I don't think you'll have trouble doing that. It's also a very good exercise for chakra control and raise the ninja's chakra capacity. – Said Naruto, making Anko question if Naruto was actually mentally unstable since birth. "Yes, if the ninja don't pass out from chakra exhaustion".

Both of them were traveling for two hours, they did just what Naruto said doubling their speed. After half an hour, they managed to cover almost the entire distance, stopping only 10 miles away to rest for the day. Anko wasn't as strong as Kakashi, so this simple exercise was exhausting for her. "Foxy…hhhuhhuh…let's rest, I have to lie down". – Said Anko, cursing Naruto's stamina. "Ok, we managed to arrive at our destination, I can see the entrance. I'll fix the tent for **us"**. – Said Naruto, earning Anko's smile, since Naruto also liked their cuddling and possibly his little hand reaching 'sensitive' places. **KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU**

Anko was watching with pleasure, the five Narutos settling everything and she remembered the time when Umino Iruka said about Naruto's class of graduates.

**FLASHBACK ON**

Anko, an experienced chunnin was found talking to Umino Iruka after the Rookie 9's team assembling."So, Iruka, tell me about these new rookies". "Anko-san. Well, Uchiha Sasuke seems to be the strongest with most knowledge about jutsus. Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino, it's hard to tell because they always chase after Sasuke. Hyuuga Hinata is smart but very shy. Aburame Shino is very reserved, but he is very smart. Nara Shikamaru is the most intelligent of them all and Inuzuka kiba has the energy peculiar to his clan. Last but not least, there is Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't graduate at first, but after Mizuki's little plan to use the boy to steal the forbidden scroll, Naruto saved me using a technique far greater than the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu".

"Far greater? What do you mean, I didn't know he could do kage bunshin and I don't know a better clone technique than the kage bunshin". "Yeah, the jutsu is called **Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**. With it, Naruto managed to create a huge army of approximately 200 Narutos and managed to beat Mizuki down to a pulp. "Are you serious?" – Screamed Anko very surprised.

**FLASHBACK OFF**

When the tent was set, the clones were dispelled and both ninjas went inside to get some sleep. Anko was settling her head in Naruto's chest, feeling the same thing she felt the first time. Before going to sleep, Anko started making conversation with the blond shinobi. "Hey foxy, what do you think a perfect woman would be? – Asked Anko before seeing Naruto entering in a thinking pose. "Oh, let me think. The perfect woman for me would have to be strong, determined, self confident and beautiful. Hair colors, eyes. I am not that selective about women". Anko after hearing this, got what she wanted to hear. She was thinking about kissing him, but she was not that initiative, but what Naruto said, pretty much shot all her will power to wait some time and she couldn't hold herself anymore.

Anko started looking at his face with amusement. With her hands, she started to caress his whisker marks with very soft hands, earning a smile from Naruto. Naruto for his part, at first was questioning her intentions, but when she hit that spot, he forgot everything and simply closed his eyes appreciating Anko's hands immensely. Anko couldn't help but smile upon seeing this. A very powerful shinobi with a demon inside of him, could have such a strange weakness and a very cute one according to her, she was mesmerized upon seeing him such at ease with himself. After a while, she stopped caressing and waited patiently for him to open his blue eyes.

After he slowly opened his eyes and mumbled a little moan from the caressing, Naruto was surprised when Anko landed her lips with his in a very passionate kiss. After the initial shock, Naruto returned the kiss and with his hands, he started to caress her face as well as her neck finding her weak spot, the area near the curse seal. When he passed his hands at the curse mark, he notice Anko shivering in delight, making his perverted mind work and move his lips to where the curse seal was and started licking the area with passion. Anko instantly felt an immense wave of pleasure filling her body and started to moan Naruto's name in such a soft and sexy voice that could make any men pass out from nose bleed. At this moment, Anko relaxed her body in a way as to show Naruto that she was his to do what she wanted to do with her. But what Naruto whispered close to her ear, she thought she was going to have an orgasm. "No, Anko-chan, remember the pact we made. Even though I would like take you right here right now, when we arrive Konoha, it will be sooo much better, I can assure you". _'Oh Kami, this is so good. This guy amazes me to my very soul. He's only sixteen and the way he talks, I'm losing my mind right now, oh kami. He's right, when we arrive, it will be soo much better. _

"Ok foxy, let's rest for tomorrow. I can't wait for us to go home and….." – Said Anko, but stopped instantly thinking of Naruto on top of her moaning close to her ear while taking advantage on her nude body.

* * *

**--Next day--**

On the next day, both of them packed and went to complete their mission. Naruto used his ability to sense as much as he could of ninjas guarding the late hideout. After a little search, Naruto managed to find five oto-nins, being two guarding the entrance and the rest just inside. "Foxy, can you take those two guarding the entrance?"

"Yeah, I can. But near them, there are three ninjas, we have to be careful". – Said Naruto, now entering in mission mode. "Take those two and I'll take care of them".

With that, Naruto drew his sword and hid his chakra so not to be detected. He ran with great speed to the side of the ninjas and attacked them both with the katana, knocking them out. Anko, as Naruto took care of the first ones, jumped right through the entrance, and sent her snakes to kill the three others inside, getting rid of two, instead. The third one hid himself and attacked behind Anko. Seeing that the oto-nin would kill Anko for sure, Naruto channeled chakra on his feet, jumped with great force and impaled his katana through the enemy, killing him for good. "Thanks, foxy, you saved my life back there". – Said Anko before becoming wide-eyed with what she saw. Next to her, Naruto was looking forward but what scared her most were his eyes. Somehow, Naruto's eyes became a darker blue and it was even more hypnotizing than before. Anko didn't know who he was, but he wasn't the Naruto she knew, this one looked like an Anbu captain. "Anko-chan, **DO** not underestimate the enemy". – Said Naruto showing a mix of emotions, more like fear of losing her and fear of losing a teammate. '_I've never seen these eyes before. He's even more serious than before. When I look at him, I don't see Naruto, I see someone else. This new ninja is even more powerful, it's like he transformed; he is focused purely on the mission and his teammates. Just who the hell is this guy, is he even human?_

"Anko-chan, let's get moving". – Ordered Naruto, making Anko forget that she was the one responsible for the mission, she forgot that she was a jounin while he was just a chunnin, such as how much terrified of him, she was. Naruto resembled the figure of a fierce leader who was a powerful ally to his friends and the enemy's worst nightmare. "O-ok". With that, Naruto ran to the next hallway and passes through a door where two ninjas were located and screamed **KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU (shadow clone jutsu). **Naruto made two clones that took care of the ninjas with advanced taijutsu and a kunai on the hand. Anko went on the other hallway, since they decided to split up and cover more ground. She spotted three more ninjas and made some hand seals **KATON HOUSENKA NO JUTSU (Fire Style: Mythical Firebird Jutsu).**

Anko spilled fireballs to every direction, hitting all the three guard in the face, burning the hell out of it. Naruto then found four more guards and attacked making handseals **DOTON DORYUUDAN NO JUTSU (Earth Style: Mud Dragon Jutsu). **With that, a dragon head emerged throwing mud balls at the oto-nins who didn't have time to react and took the attack straight at the stomach. As Naruto continued moving, he sensed Anko's presence approaching as well as another strong presence as well.

After taking care of the guards, Naruto and Anko came upon the vault that seemed to have the document they were searching for. Anko tried to open using some of her previous knowledge, but found that such vault was strange, since there was no lock. Seeing that the answer would be to destroy it, Naruto called her to step aside and made a little rasengan to act like a power drill. A huge noise was caused by Naruto's technique made contact and caused a big hole on the vault, showing all the documents inside. All seemed pretty useless, except for a black envelope that contained a seal to open. Anko did the necessary handseal and opened the envelope. The document's title shown KINJUTSU.

* * *

**--At Konoha--**

Three days later, the hidden couple arrived at Tsunade's office so as to present a report for her. Anko being the one in charge, handed the black envelope to the hokage and gave her the report. "Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama. Here is the document you requested". – Reported Anko. "Good job. What a jerk that Orochimaru, always messing around with forbidden techniques. Congratulations, both of you get one day off. "Hai, Hokage-sama". – Said Naruto, vanishing in a little tornado using **Fuuton Shunshin no Jutsu **(**Wind Style: Body Flicker Jutsu**)**. **However, Anko decided to talk to the hokage about Naruto's transformation during the mission. "Tsunade-sama, May I talk with you about Naruto-kun?" – Said Anko, now realizing that she added the**-kun **added to his name, much to Tsunade's suspicion. "Sure. What is it?" – Said Tsunade, wondering about the way Anko addressed Naruto. "When we were inside the hideout, his eyes were different than before. I don't know why, but when the mission started, Naruto was well another person, it was like I was following his orders instead of me being the one in charge".

"Anko, Naruto changed in a lot of things. Kakashi said so himself. Get some sleep, rest a bit. I'll see you in two days". – Said Tsunade, dismissing Anko before pondering about what Anko saw on Naruto's eyes that she was frightened about it. Tsunade was actually wondering what exactly could fright Anko, seeing that she was the one who pretty much scared anyone.

* * *

**--With Naruto--**

On their day off, Naruto was walking on the streets, in order to get something to eat. He was angry, because Ichirakus was closed, so he had to look for a place to eat. Naruto remembered meeting Anko, near a dango place, so he decided to go there. When he arrived, he felt Anko's presence and smiled. "It seems like we meet again, Anko-chan" – Said Naruto, entering the restaurant. When he entered, he spotted the purple haired kinoichi drinking some tea with two dangos on the plate". "I was wondering when I would ever see you again. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the hot fox? Came to pay me a visit?" – Said Anko smiling deviously towards Naruto.

Naruto and Anko shared their meal together, as well as some pervert conversation that resembled Jiraya's most perverted thoughts. At that time, Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura were resting from their medical training and went for some dango, only to spot Naruto and Anko talking in a very close manner. When seeing, Sakura immediately blushed, realizing the content of the conversation. "It seemed that Naruto learned some things with Jiraya, after all? – Said Shizune. "Some things sure, but that's all Naruto". – Tsunade confirmed. "Why is he with Anko?" – Asked Sakura, feeling jealous of the purple haired jounin.

Naruto for his part had already sensed the three girls approaching and smiled a bit. Seeing that Naruto was smiling, Anko turned to ask what was it, just for him to say that they would be having an 'interesting' company. After hearing who were them, Anko smiled as well, understanding her role at Naruto's perverted prank that he and Anko was about to show them. "Hokage-sama, you came to pay a visit to me or Naruto?" – Shouted Anko, never looking at the Hokage, trusting Naruto's chakra signature perception. "How did you notice me, Anko?" – Asked Tsunade, with some amusement, since only Naruto could do such a thing. "Actually, foxy here sensed you guys and said to me". – Said Anko, earning wide eyes from the three medic-nins. "Now, Sakura, why are you staring at me like that? Jealous, are you? Jealous, that I'll have foxy here all to myself". – Whispered Anko in a mischevious smile, earning a smile from Naruto and blush from the three medic-nins from realizing what they were about do.

"So, Anko-chan, come on let's go. It was great seeing you Tsunade-sama, Shizune-neechan, Sakura". – Said Naruto, before enveloping Anko in a sexy and close hug and vanished using a little tornado, sending little gusts of wind towards the three medic-nins.

* * *

**--At Naruto's apartment--**** (lemon sequence)**

Naruto and Anko teleported to his apartment, as a way of attending the pact they formed back at Rice Country. They went inside and Anko noticed a little bit of clumsiness, seeing some clothes on the floor and some written scrolls. "Make yourself at home, Anko-chan". – Said Naruto, before seeing Anko lying down on his couch in a very provocative way by taking her trench coat off, showing some skin. "I'm sure I will".

Naruto, after that, took off his chunnin vest and his rubber blouse, showing the results of hard training, much to Anko's delight. Seeing her new lover's body, Anko went daydreaming and started imagining lots of excited things. As Naruto lied down on top of her, he turned to kiss her passionately as well as caressing her weak spot near the curse seal. Even with just his hands, Anko was already having trouble controlling herself. Seeing this, Naruto decided to go for the decisive blow and started licking that place, earning some deep moans from her as well as freeing the animal inside the cage.

Anko instantly flipped over and now she was lying on top of him. She could feel his well-toned muscles as she was passing her hands. As she rested her hands on his whisker marks, he was also beginning to get excited and his hormones were begging to be released. Not wanting to hold anything back, Naruto lost his controls and kissed her with such passion that Anko was struggling to match it. Right now, she was trembling with excitement and she started licking his body very soft, earning some moans from Naruto as she was going south with her tongue. After a while, she reached the beginning of his paints and smiled mischievously, before yanking his trousers and witnessing what will give her 1001 nights of extreme pleasure. Now grabbing Naruto's cock and massaging, she was feeling good that she was the one in control of Naruto right now. She enjoyed such feeling, the feeling of being in control of a powerful man such as him, to hold his cock and show him that she was now running the show. After enjoying the feeling, she engulfed his cock inside her mouth, swallowing it halfway down and then coming back up stopping on his head. As she heard moaning coming from Naruto, she intensified the procedure.

After a while of sucking the immense cock, Naruto was having trouble holding from cumming right on her face. But it seemed that Anko was looking forward to that, since she was intensifying the ritual. "Anko-chan, I'm…can't hold anymore…I'm cumming". – Said Naruto, now losing his mind while sending gusts of cum inside her mouth, much to Anko's delight, seeing that she was trying to swallow everything. Now even though Anko liked the feeling of being in charge of things, what she desired the most was someone proving her wrong and Naruto did just that. After he came, he flipped her once again and ripped her remaining clothes leaving her entirely naked and even more turned on than before. "Oh, kami, possess me Naruto-kun". – Said Anko, licking her lips in total ecstasy.

In what could be better described as Jiraya's most perverted books, Naruto started licking Anko's pussy, earning more moans on her part. Anko for her part, was losing her mind faster than before. She was loving the feeling of being controlled like that and Naruto's tongue inside her was unbelievable. Anko was now moaning loud and started begging for Naruto to just stick it inside her and just ravage her. "Naruto-kun, please I can't take it anymore, please fuck me, I beg you. I can't hold anymore". Not being one to complain, Naruto did just that and started to put it in slowly.

Anko right now pretty much forgot about everything. The only thing left on her mind was how Naruto's cock seemed to be filling every inch of her interior wall like that. As Naruto was pounding inside her, she was screaming his name with such vigor that could be heard all the way to Kumo. These two were like animals having sex, each of them were focusing only on pleasuring the other with every way possible. Anko was straightening her inner walls as to make Naruto's cock even harder and Naruto was going deeper as to reach the bottom of it. After thirty minutes of intercourse, both of them were sweating like two animals in bed. Anko and Naruto were on the verge of having an explosive orgasm, but when Naruto decided to use chakra, Anko lost her mind. The feeling was so good that she was now thanking kami for such stamina.

"Harder, Naruto-kun, harder. Oh sweet Kami, I'm cumming…I'm cumming."

"Oh my god Anko-chan, I can't hold on any longer, Oh my god, I'm cumming".

After the birth control jutsu, Naruto and Anko came together, before resting on top of each other, panting in exhaustion from the rough sex they had together. Needless to say both of them were extremely happy with each other.


	8. Naruto's new secret

****

Chapter 8 –

**Naruto's new secret**

After the moment, Anko and Naruto drift off to deep sleep with both smiles visible on their faces. But while Naruto was sleeping soundly, Anko was lying on his chest, wondering about the sudden events that surfaced since the chunnin exams until now. She was remembering first seeing Naruto three years ago, when he was just a noisy brat. She then remembered when he appeared three years later at the last chunnin exams, with a whole different appearance, more masculine, handsome, and experienced, everything was different about him. Anko then looked at his face and wondered how he could change so much not only in appearance but in personality was unbelievable to her. Then their first mission together where they met each other for real, with each of them sharing their inner secrets, somehow not even carrying about letting out something so deep inside, which happened to cause damages beyond a normal person's belief.

Anko was pondering about something she long ago concluded. It was after she was retrieved from the hands of Orochimaru by the Anbu tracking team. She was able to get the confidence of the sandaime hokage and was able to rise to tokubetsu jounin in almost record time. But since her incident with the snake sannin, Anko vowed to never have feelings for anyone ever again. That's why all she did that being scary and playing her role as konoha's bitch, was just an act in order to keep everyone away from reaching her heart which was her weakest spot of all.

But now, she ended up breaking such a promise when she let Naruto into her life and she was afraid to say the least. Anko believed deep inside that everyone hated her and the only ones who tried to lure her with good deeds or anything, was just so to get close to her and end up hurting her or worse. She couldn't for her sake know what happened with her inner defenses when it came to the blonde chunnin. Something about him, that Anko felt at piece so to say. Like her, Naruto knew all the suffering and hatred that Konoha could offer for the ones who made them suffer greatly, but for Naruto and Anko's situation, their hatred from Konoha's civilization was because of acts made by Kyuubi and Orochimaru. Anko couldn't help but marvel at the display of Naruto's deep piercing and yet innocent blue eyes. It was like she could look at them and just feel content with herself. Then she remembered his eyes when on their mission and shivered at the sight.

Naruto's eyes changed somewhat, but it wasn't the eye color that changed or anything visible. It was the feeling that those who looked straight at him could sense. Anko felt fear for the first time in her life after Orochimaru and that fact alone frightened her to the bone. She didn't want to fall in love with Naruto, even though he somehow urged some deep and buried feelings within her, her mind would just drift to the past and remember all the experiments and when the snake sannin put the curse seal inside her. Anko was in turmoil right now and the reason of course being to trust or not to trust the blonde chunnin Naruto. When he wasn't on a mission, Naruto had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen in her life, but when in a mission, she couldn't help but shiver from her memories of Naruto's eyes. As she lifted off his chest, she turned to look at the figure sleeping peacefully on the bed and sighed. _He look so at peace with himself, it's almost as if the fox wasn't even around._

Now picturing having the nine tailed demon inside Naruto, Anko kind of understood the reason behind Naruto's mission eyes. She was remembering that at first she felt afraid of such a display that looked like the eyes of a killer (imagine Battousai's eyes when he's focused on killing), but as the mission progressed, she realized that such eyes were diverted to the enemy and no one else. Anko remembered the hokage talking about Naruto and the fact that the man (not boy) changed a lot but even she, who happened to consider Naruto as a part of her family, could identify this new Naruto. In fact, if one person were to know about how Naruto changed, it was his sensei Hatake Kakashi. Considering about talking to the silver haired jounin in the morning, she lent her head on Naruto's chest and got back to sleep, feeling somewhat warm inside when she was close to him.

* * *

**--On the next day--**

When the sunlight came into Naruto's room, Anko woke up and left the apartment slowly, since she didn't want to wake him as well as the fact that Anko didn't want for Naruto to know where she was going. She considered leaving a note for him not to worry about her and so she picked up a blank scroll that was lying on top of Naruto's dining table and wrote a few lines, just so he wouldn't worry about her or even try to find her, at least not until she talked with the scarecrow jounin.

After some fast writing, she left and close the door slowly, before jumping to the ground in order to start her pace forward Kakashi's apartment, which she knew where it was from having to see why he was late sometimes when going on a mission with him. But as her mind was wondering about what to ask, Anko hadn't notice a red-eyed jounin that happened to be close to Naruto's apartment and got to see a strange looking Anko, leaving Naruto's apartment, like she spent the night there.

Upon seeing that, Kurenai smiled for her friend. Even though Anko was rather distance from her, not ever letting Kurenai reach out for her, she knew that deep inside Anko considered her a friend and that eventually she would come forward and tell what her heart feels or how much she has suffered through life. Kurenai knew that if someone suffered as much as Anko said person was Naruto and the fact that Naruto held the most feared creature that ever came to Konoha, it was safe to say that Anko only suffered as much as Naruto up to some extent, but never just like him. Kurenai smiled at the sight of both of them together as a couple, since she didn't mind seeing that their age gap were different. Naruto has demonstrated such experience lately that Kurenai wondered if he wasn't lying his true age from people.

* * *

**--Kakashi's apartment--**

Kakashi was having the time of his life. Just yesterday, he was able to acquire the newest version of the Icha Icha series and he was having a blast, while jumping through the pages and giggling like a school girl. But like all times, such times seems to not last very long, as a fierce knock on the door was heard and Kakashi had to hide his book for a while. As Kakashi went towards the door, he was thinking that Naruto was the one who wanted to talk to him about something or maybe Tsunade sending someone for another mission for him, but he was surprised to hear the voice of none other than Mitarashi Anko yelling him to open the door in a very…well Anko like manner. Sighing, Kakashi opened the door, earning a little punch on his face since Anko while slamming the door fiercely wasn't paying attention and hit the jounin dead on. "Ah Anko, nice to see you too, you didn't have to punch me in the face, I was just going to open the door oh so have you know." – Said Kakashi, rubbing his left chick from the incident.

"Sorry about that, anyway Kakashi, I have to talk to you about something. It involves your student and the mess he created". – Mumbled Anko, not entirely sure whether to tell the jounin or decide to change the subject, since she wasn't entirely comfortable sharing what happened with the man that happened to consider Naruto his little brother. "Sure Anko-san, please come in, tell me what did he do to you, that make you so rowdy at this time of day?" – Asked Kakashi, displaying a face that looked like he was thinking of something else entirely and not even paying attention to Anko, much to Anko's dismay and slight anger. "Wake up, dammit. I want to talk to you, not seeing you sleep while I'm here talking". – Screamed Anko, managing to wake up Kakashi and shift away his thoughts of what would happen after the scene where the couple just had their first time sex. "What, ok Anko-san, tell me what do you want to talk about Naruto?" – Asked Kakashi, to which Anko started telling him all that had transpired on their mission, while seeing Kakashi's jaw dropping inch by inch as Anko was reporting her so called 'relationship with Naruto.

"So….are you saying that you Mitarashi Anko just had sex with my student Uzumaki Naruto and on top of that may well start having feelings for him?" – Asked Kakashi, feeling somewhat vaguely familiar with such a story from his new book, but also remembering Naruto talking about her. "It's not about that, you pervert freak. I want to ask you about Naruto's eyes, there is something to those that manage to put some dangerous senses inside my body and I don't know what to make out of those". – Said Anko to which Kakashi sighed, knowing what Anko was referring to Naruto's eyes as he saw the same thing on their missions together. "Anko-san, tell me, when you saw Naruto's eyes, did you manage to see what appeared to be a light blue light on the corner of his eyes?" – Asked Kakashi, now being serious all of a sudden. "As a matter of fact, I did Kakashi, what is that? When I looked at it, it's like Naruto is a new man, it seemed like he was a veteran killer or something like that" – Said Anko while witnessing Kakashi in a thinking pose while remembering seeing such eyes on the mission that Naruto was capturing the suna missing-nins. "I don't know what it is, but definitely is not a dojutsu, but I share your concern as I as well felt the same thing upon looking at Naruto's eyes, but I believe your description fit nicely Anko-san. Indeed, if felt like he was a true killer, but I didn't feel any malice towards me at all, but rather the enemies" – Said Kakashi, who appeared to be thinking out loud, but actually Anko was considering those very words.

"Kakashi, tell me about Naruto's sudden change, I was wondering about that as well. How the hell could he change so much?" – Asked Anko before seeing a happy smile from Kakashi, seeing as he happened to witness most of his student's changes and was happy to share such a story with her. "Well, it all started when…." – Kakashi began telling about Naruto's failed mission to retrieve Sasuke and took the blame, and then he told her about his duo elemental affinity training and chunnin exams. Kakashi ended up telling Anko about Naruto's little rampard episode some time ago when he happened to leak some of the kyuubi's chakra, while showing to everyone who terrifying were to be in his shoes while growing up, leaving a wide-eyed Anko who had her suspicions about that being Naruto, but never had proof, just to know now that that was a result of Kakashi telling him about Obito and the failure in comparison between Kakashi's past and Naruto's, disengaging Naruto's control over the beast, since Naruto couldn't hold such negative emotions any longer, having to release it somehow. Anko was seeing the smile upon Kakashi's face, when he talked about the fact that it was Naruto who saved him for feeling miserable over the loss of Kakashi's teammates and his sensei which was by the way the Yondaime Hokage.

Seeing that Anko got her answers and reached a conclusion about what to do about Naruto, she thanked the scarecrow jounin for his assistance and smiled telling him that she could very well see Naruto's smile got to him and that if Naruto could save Kakashi like he did, he could very well save her as well for her nightmare.

* * *

**--At Naruto's apartment--**

It was close to 10 and Naruto woke up to see that Anko wasn't there with him. Not bother to look around since his apartment wasn't that big and the only place that she could be was empty, that being the bathroom which door was wide open. As Naruto woke up, he went to the refrigerator and grabbed some milk for breakfast. After seating near the table, he came upon a scroll with just three of four lines written. Upon close inspection, Naruto saw Anko's name signing the scroll and turned to read the message: '_Hey foxy, I needed to take care of something really early. I had a great time yesterday…Anko'_

Not being one to express much of her feelings, thought Naruto as he read the note. Thinking about it, Naruto turned to smash his head on the wall, from not knowing it was actually sort of a first date kind of thing and that they ended up making love in the end. Deciding not to think about it and make a decision to find her sometime today. After doing some morning rituals known to all, Naruto left his house and headed for a training ground nearby.

* * *

**--At the training ground--**

As he arrived, he turned to seat on the ground and just meditates on something. First of all, he wanted to improve what seemed to be his inner ground chakra sensor by trying to understanding a bit more about earth manipulation. Closing his eyes, he focused doton chakra through his body so as to get a feeling of the ground beneath him. So far, he was only able to focus on inner ground perception up to a certain amount of time before losing control and sort of cutting the mental link. Naruto needed a technique that could grant him access below the ground, this way he could get a close grip on inner ground chakra sensor better. Seeing that he wouldn't do any good just being there, Naruto decided to do some research at the library to see if such technique existed.

* * *

**--At the library--**

After greeting the librarian, Naruto asked for all doton ninjutsu scrolls. Not wanting to take all of them, since they were quite a few with surprisingly were authored by the damn perverted of a sannin who by the way has a doton affinity, much to Naruto's dismay since the jackass could at least tried to teach him elemental ninjutsu. Putting the past in the past, Naruto turned to look through the doton scrolls. After about half of them were done, Naruto was fuming with rage. He couldn't find such technique and wondered if such technique is due to be invented or was on the other scrolls. Two or three scrolls later, Naruto seemed to hit the jackpot. He found a technique called **Doton Dochuu Eigyo no Jutsu (**Earth Style: Underground Fish Projection Jutsu**) **and turned to read the description. It turned out was a C ranked ninjutsu in which the shinobi could fuse his body below the ground or inside a tree or rather inside a wall. Naruto grinned, knowing that such technique if learned correctly, could lead to a better understanding of the ground and that his senses would be improved greatly.

Selecting such scroll, Naruto went to the librarian so he could borrow in order to practice the technique. Already with scroll in tow, Naruto left the library and went straight to the training ground, so he could take a look at the scroll and see how such technique worked. Naruto appeared on the same training ground there he was before, but now sitting down and started reading it.

* * *

**--At the training ground--**

It was almost lunch hour and Naruto was right now testing his technique. He already read the scroll twice in a way to learn how is such procedure. The scroll didn't reveal much, it said only to focus doton chakra and get the part of the body that you wanted to mix with the ground, wall or tree. Since doton wasn't one of Naruto's chakra affinities, he was having trouble trying to perform. Right now, Naruto was in trance about doing the damn technique that he failed to sense Yamato looking on him from a tree nearby.

With Yamato, he has been thinking about their last encounter as he was sure it didn't end well, but now that he saw what Naruto could do in such little time, he began to wonder if what everyone was telling the truth about him being underestimated by the boy is so called teachers and the fact that neither of them taught him much. Sighing where he was, he realized that he was being too harsh on the boy. Being a perfectionist in battle, Yamato made it to Anbu with professional skills, but he was an Anbu and here he was judging a genin now chunnin's abilities compared to his own. Somehow, Yamato expected for Naruto to be Anbu level because of his high chakra level and the ability to learn high level ninjutsu and never ending stamina.

By seeing Naruto, Yamato could very well see one thing, Naruto was having difficulties at whichever doton ninjutsu he was trying to learn. Being a mokuton user that happens to be a mix between suiton and doton, Yamato could very well be a good help for Naruto to learn. But, deep inside he was thinking if Naruto would accept the man's apologies, Yamato didn't know if Naruto would still be hostile towards him or not. Sighing, since he didn't want to think much on the manner, just went close to Naruto, who by the way managed to take a look at the Anbu, knowing that it was Yamato since he could feel Yamato's chakra.

"I know you know who I am, Naruto. I…I came here to apologize to you from my judgment. I'm sorry for expecting too much of you and ended up criticizing you more than anything. I know for a fact that you were able to become much stronger these days, since you managed to earn the position of chunnin". – Said Yamato, trying to study the sudden eye change from Naruto, which from his experience in battle, Yamato already was waiting for an attack which fortunately never came. Naruto was feeling better about what happened some time ago, but when their last encounter came to his mind, such thoughts ruined it all. "You don't need to apologize to me. I actually got to thank you for doing what you did. Without you, I would still be that obnoxious kid who couldn't do anything without depending on someone else". – Said Naruto, still not looking entirely at the Anbu, but the hate sure was gone. "I can see that you are learning doton ninjutsu now, which technique are you trying to accomplish, maybe I can help you with?" – Asked Yamato, though that was his true intention all along. "It's called Doton Dochuu Eigyo, but I'm having trouble in focusing doton chakra rather than my two affinities fuuton and suiton".

After some explaining about Naruto's jutsu, Yamato entered his thinking mode and started going through ways of helping the kyuubi vessel. While he didn't know what to do, he thought about revise what was Naruto expected to do and see if he was doing something wrong about performing the jutsu. When Naruto tried the last time, Yamato was able to see that Naruto's chakra upon his hand was touching the ground, seemed to just stop channeling, but he believed it was a subconscious level. "Naruto, I noticed that when you almost reach the ground, subconsciously you stop to channel chakra rendering the technique useless. Just try to focus chakra all the way down and then we go from there". – Said Yamato as he explained the technique to Naruto who were only focused on the advice, not the teacher that so happened to underestimate him once back then.

When Naruto's hand touched the ground this time, Naruto was surprised to see his hand apparently sinking into the ground, showing that he at least managed to get the basics of the technique. Yamato looked at it with interest, he somehow knew that this was Naruto's first attempts at the technique and he got it this far it was nothing short of amazing. Yamato was comparing Naruto to some Anbu comrades and the time it took for them to learn a C ranked ninjutsu that wasn't linked to their element and he had to admit that very few ninjas could do that and those who could, it took them at least two days where Naruto managed to learn it in just one.

After some more tries, Naruto managed to sink his entire body below the ground and appeared again on the surface, while smiling towards Yamato, making Yamato look at him with surprise. He knew that Naruto was pissed at him for what he did to him, but he figured that he was still furious after all. To see that Naruto was smiling, Yamato sighed thinking that Naruto was kind of addicted to learning new techniques and Yamato considered Naruto wanted to be a ninjutsu specialist in the future. "Good job, Naruto. Now I must head back to headquarters. Continue practicing the technique, if you need any help, reach for me at headquarters, ja ne". – Greeted Yamato, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving Naruto supposedly alone at the training ground, but he knew two people were watching him and he very well knew who they were.

From a little distance, Anko and Kakashi stood there watching Yamato's sudden change of hearts and taught a doton technique to Naruto. Kakashi smiled knowing Naruto had such ability. He could bring the best in anyone, hence how he changed the snake mistress Mitarashi Anko. By seeing the way Anko was looking at Naruto, Kakashi could only smile at seeing something he thought he would never see. Anko's smiling, but apart from her mischievous smile covered with deception all over, this one was a genuine one, it was like Anko was looking at the blonde with infinite pride for being with him. Anko for her part managed to see Naruto learning the technique and smiled not even knowing the way she smiled, which was different from the times she showed a smirk that was prior to one hell of a beating afterwards. Anko, after talking to Kakashi, wasn't frightened anymore of Naruto's eyes and could very well see his determination towards becoming stronger. Little did she know that Naruto's prankster side kicked in already and a devious smirk was noticeable through his features. Kakashi managed to see it because of the sharingan he activated to see which technique Naruto was learning before and wondered if he managed to sense him and Anko.

Naruto for his part had a plan and the target was none other than Anko. Actually, Naruto was overestimating just how much his appearance would call her attention, but if it worked, it would leave the snake mistress with the jaw open and maybe a little nosebleed because of it. Not wanting to let them know that he already sensed them, Naruto fainted being tired and start taking off his vest and the top part of his uniform, showing a well-toned body easily noticeable muscle features running through his arms, legs, chest and abdomen.

Upon seeing this, Anko started to open her mouth in awe at such a sight. She was beginning to drool for Naruto's body and images appeared inside her mind of Naruto's body on top of her, making her moan like crazy. Because of that, Anko was found having difficulties for controlling herself and not jump on him and have one more wild and rough sex with the blonde who, according to Anko, couldn't be more perfect. Kakashi for his part, turned to look at Anko and managed to sense some pheromones exhaling from her body and turned to see what she was looking at that was causing this and smiled mischievously, thinking of it as an introduction scene from the Icha Icha series. Seeing that he didn't belong to the place, Kakashi smiled before leaving in a swirl of leaves, leaving a drooling Anko who didn't even notice that Kakashi was gone, her eyes and attention were all focused on Naruto's top naked body and picturing how he could just pleasure her once again with his body on top of her.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

Doing her paperwork, Tsunade was starting to feel like practicing some katon jutsus using paper as targets. She sighed, seeing a huge pile on top of her desk and wished someone else who do this type of thing. She was bored out of her mind and she would kill for finding something better to do then doring boring paperwork…'_Seriously, why again did I take this damn job while I could gamble and drink all the time'._

Taking a break, she turned to take a look at the village from the hokage's office. She managed to see some children playing around and sighed remembering of a certain blonde that didn't have any of what the kids are doing now. She shivered once again, since she never know how it was not to have a childhood, always running from mobs of people, apathy eyes and the villager's hatred towards him. Tsunade came to consider Naruto her family and she was suffering for the boy. Moreover, she was wondering about Naruto's mental stability, since anyone with half as much of suffering, could very well commit seppuku with good enough reason to it. Deciding on a little espionage to see what he was doing or how he was, she picked Sarutobi's crystal ball and did the jutsu necessary for the ball to show her the needed image. But what she saw, it was nothing close to what she was prepared to witness.

* * *

**--At the training ground--**

Having waited enough, Anko decided to appear near Naruto, therefore, completing his objective that was make her came at him. Upon turning to see her, Naruto turned to just study Anko's eyes, body expression, everything. Normally, any man who checked Anko out, such guy would be sent to the hospital from blood loss. But Anko this time was different. She was smiling but this time she was picturing him entirely naked, possessing her like no one did before. Anko was famous from handling with men, scaring them, hurting them, but she liked more to be handled, she appreciated a man who have the balls to approach her and stand up to her. And Naruto did even more than that, when they made sex, Anko was as loss of words at Naruto taking control of the situation the way he did and just ravaged her in the most sexy way possible. "So, Anko-chan, appreciating the view, I presume?" – Asked Naruto, smiling seeing his plan worked, but Anko wasn't any other person and she would have another go with the chuunin. "I'm sure am, Naru-kun, but I was remembering how you behave in bed and I was wondering if you would be so kind and take care of little old me one more time, just like before". – Said Anko, licking her lips being already turned on with all the teasing courtesy of Uzumaki Naruto.

"Oh, I see you're turned on, Anko-hime. I do believe I'll have to take care of you in a way that you'd rather enjoy, why don't you come here, so I can treat you nicely as well as show you a good time right here". – Said Naruto, now calling her bluff, but also turned on as well, wanting Anko right there. Anko smiled and started walking towards him slowly, while swinging her hips in a very seductive manner. Upon arrival, Anko embraced Naruto and gave him a passionate kiss and like this they stayed for a good five minutes, while Anko's hand was passing through Naruto's arms and chest. Anko was having the time of her life, the kiss was electrifying and his body was just magnificent. She could feel his muscles and started imagining him being all sweaty from a fierce training. But while they were going at it, someone was watching wide-eyed as well as jaws practically on the ground.

* * *

**--At the Hokage's office--**

Tsunade was looking at the scene not at all believing what was passing on the crystal ball. At first, the ball showed Naruto without his vest and the upper part of his uniform while talking to Anko who was looking at Naruto as if she was about to jump on him and have sex with the blonde. At first, Tsunade thought about the snake's audacity while taking advantage of Naruto while he was training but that went straight outside, when she heard it was Naruto who was teasing and flirting with the snake mistress to which she responded by smiling deviously. When Anko turned to kiss Naruto while embracing him, Tsunade was at loss of words at the scene. Here it was the once obnoxious kid giving pleasure to a woman older than him no less. Tsunade was pondering on continuing this, seeing that it was Naruto after all and he was considered family to her, but as she continue to see the scene, something inside her which was long asleep, after Dan was killed. Tsunade was getting turned on by the scene which by now, Naruto took Anko's coat off, while rubbing his hands through her sexy body and ending on her tits, massaging them smoothly.

Tsunade was for the first time, losing control of her body. She was considering touching herself in her private area and massage nicely but fought to compose herself since she was at a public place and Shizune could enter any minute now. After some minutes, she was beginning to sweat and some pressure needed to be released. She was watching Naruto now on top of Anko, now caressing her body slowly with his tongue, making Anko moan Naruto's name in one of the sexiest voice she could muster which managed to awake Naruto's inner beast.

True to Tsunade's thinking, Shizune barged in her office, only to see a very attentive Tsunade staring at the Sandaime's crystal ball. As she walked closely to see what's going on, she immediately dropped a scroll she was reading on the floor, awaking Tsunade from the trance of seeing Anko and Naruto's _private _moment. "Tsunade-sama, what the hell is this? Oh my…I mean Naruto-kun and Anko-san…having….oh my". – Mumbled Shizune that last part, since like the hokage, Shizune didn't even had sex, since she left the village being just 12 and followed Tsunade after she lost Dan. Shizune was at first like Tsunade about not wanting to see Naruto like this, since they were like family but somehow the scene had just awoke something inside Shizune and she was beginning to feel the temperature rising all of a sudden and then she entered in trance at the sight of Naruto now licking Anko all over her body and hearing Anko losing her mind in the process. Shizune and Tsunade were in trance, seeing it and just now wished some _action_ like that as well. "Shizune, could you please lock the door? I don't want anyone entering here and see us spying such a wonderful love making sequence". – Said Tsunade, whispering the last part, which Shizune nodded and went towards the door to lock and returned to see that Anko and Naruto were enrolled in a position that both of them were giving pleasure to each other.

After some time and a few moans from Anko, Tsunade and Shizune were already exhaling pheromones and if one man suddenly entered the place, he would be very lucky. Right now, Shizune picked a chair and sat next to Tsunade as her legs were getting loose. After she positioned herself to a good seat right in front of the show, both Tsunade and Shizune were at a sudden loss of what to say, think or feel, upon seeing Naruto pleasuring Anko by sticking his inside her with considerable extent, making Anko now scream for him to continue and increase the pace. Shizune was right now questioning her sister type relationship with Naruto from seeing him and Anko going at it. Tsunade for her part was showing signs of losing control and start rubbing her body a little bit. She was sweating like a pig because of the intensity. A little more and she would lost it and screw the consequences, but she was safe when she saw Naruto and Anko finish the act in extreme bliss with each other.

After that, Tsunade cut the chakra on the energy ball and for five minutes both women were in deep thinking pose. Shizune felt ashamed but still turned on by such display. Ashamed since she not only watched her so called brother having hot sex with the snake mistress and for a second wishing it was her. Tsunade for her part was astounded by Naruto's sex abilities and the way he gave pleasure to Anko was nothing less of a master in the making. He was smooth, patient, considerable of her feelings in the process and savage when appropriated. The girls were considering about seeing the blonde after what they saw and safe to say none of them would look at Naruto or Anko in the eyes anymore, at least for a few time.

* * *

**--At the training ground--**

Right now, Anko and Naruto were lying down with Anko on her favorite spot, Naruto's chest. She was picturing the great sex they had and she was in cloud nine right now. All the teasing, then the slightly more perverted moves, finishing with Naruto filling her inside, while making her have one of the greatest moans she ever had. Naruto for his part, was smiling from ear to ear. The reason is that his relationship with Anko was progressing.

"Naru-kun, I've got to admit something to you. When we were at our mission together, I managed to catch a glimpse of your eyes and scared the shit out of me. For a moment, I couldn't breathe because of the killing intent. But, since such energy was focused on the enemies, I was relieved though images from your eyes being that way again, it got me scared by you". – Said Anko, earning surprising look from Naruto, who by now deiced than an explanation is in order. "Since you know about him (kyuubi), it's all his idea. When I channel regular chakra though my eyes, it's kind of a fusion between my blue eyes and Kyuubi's bloodlust eyes and the killing intent I send towards the enemy, not my friends and comrades. You shoudn't be afraid hime, I'd never do anything to harm you". - Said Naruto, making Anko feel even more for the blonde.

After that, Naruto and Anko talked about such a use of this abilities and she was wondering about the possibilities.


	9. First S ranked mission

**Chapter 9 – First S ranked mission**

After Naruto finished explaining his eye's change to Anko, she became relieved since it wasn't him, but the beast's doing. Little did she know that Naruto stopped using the Kyuubi's chakra for some time now. The real reason of Naruto's eyes to change like that was a simple mix between his killing intent and channeling his chakra through his eyes, creating such fearsome look. However Naruto was looking intently at Anko and he was surprised to see that he scared her since three years ago the history was quite the opposite. Since Naruto only did missions with Kakashi and sometimes Neji, none of them ever noticed his eyes, however he couldn't know if they saw and decided against telling him about or not.

The first time he saw his eyes changed was after his return from failing the mission to retrieve Sasuke. He was found looking at the mirror that day cursing everyone and himself with the former was being underestimated and the latter weakness from relying on the fox's power. On that day, Naruto was so angry that he managed to break the sync because of the pressure he was making against it. After he broke the sync, he turned to look at his reflection on the mirror only to see a little beam of light appear on the corner of each eye and some popped veins courtesy of the anger that was surrounding him at the moment.

Since that day, Naruto at first vowed to show such eyes display to everyone who underestimated him or downsized him, but now such eyes will only be directed towards his enemies and Konoha's as well. Seeing as how Anko was resting her head on his chest, Naruto smiled at the thought of a supposedly dangerous and unstable woman to appear so peaceful like that. He remembered his confrontation with her at the last chunnin exams when she licked his blood and wondered if such a thing was merely an act on her part. Being practically a master in hiding true emotions, Naruto could very well look at the person's eyes and find the person's emotional secret. The truth was that Naruto and Anko did in fact have similar and agonizing pasts because of two fearsome entities. Because of Orochimaru, Anko was treated like hell from both villagers and shinobi, up to a point where she decided to embrace a snake like personality in order to keep those who wish her harm away. Naruto wasn't different, although 10 times worse than Anko's. Because of the fox's rampage in Konoha 15 years ago, Naruto was and still is treated like the Nine-tailed fox's incarnate, because of this some people treated him with apathy, not even bothering to recognize that he was nothing but a child back then, while others did nothing to hold their anger towards what the fox did for them and constantly beat Naruto to the ground.

Anko and Naruto already had such bond between them. The bond of suffering and the bond of overcoming obstacles in life much to a point that even if they didn't ended up together. Upon looking at her face, Naruto wondered if the pain and suffering brought the two of them together. Surely wasn't the looks or his supposedly lack of experience that attracted her to him. Naruto never was one to worry about his looks or the fact that he might be attractive to the opposite sex, since for one he didn't have the need for such a thing and second since he long ago embraced the fact that no one if sane conscience would date a demon, even though he knew he wasn't one.

After some time cuddling, Naruto sensed Anko awakening and smiled upon seeing her stretching like she just had the best sleep of her life. Anko for her part was dreaming about Naruto living with her and cuddling with her on her bed. After turning her head only to see a smiling Naruto, she felt warmth inside her chest, knowing that she found the one she was looking for. Someone who could see through her disguise, someone who had similar past and the most important for her he was bloody handsome and a well-toned body. She was even happier when she heard such kind words from him. "Had a good night sleep Anko-hime?" – Anko right now was feeling lighter and she could only smile and nod giving an affirmative response to his answer and seeing his broad and genuine smile simply flooding her chest with warmth of honest and sincere feelings. "Yes I did. I really enjoyed it". – Said Anko, though she wished they were either on her bead or his, so she could remain like before and don't need to worry about being spied on. Little did she know about the Hokage's crystal ball.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

After witnessing the love making, Tsunade and Shizune were delighted to see the new couple lying down peacefully. Shizune smiled saying that they found each other and they appeared to be made for each other, receiving an affirmative nod from the blonde hokage. "You're quite right Shizune, although I first wished that Naruto found someone his age, he and Anko indeed are a perfect match". – Said Tsunade, never letting her eyes leave the beautiful sight that was her surrogate family actually smiling again.

* * *

**--At the Training Ground--**

Now that Anko and Naruto got up, Anko said that she had to go to Ibiki for filing some reports regarding some missing-nins. Not one to hold her, Naruto smiled saying that he as well needed to head for the library for some doton research, saying that he wanted to create a new doton technique, instantly getting Anko's curiosity since doton was one of her favorite ninjutsus. Upon asking what it was, she scowled when Naruto said that it was a secret and that he didn't want to spoil the surprise. Seeing Anko slightly mad, he turned to kiss her chick and whisper that she will be the first to see the doton ninjutsu, earning a slight blush on her face from the kiss and an excited smile from learning another jutsu. After that, they said their goodbyes and Naruto promised her on a date later on.

Now after Anko jumped towards the interrogation chamber, Naruto went towards the library one more time to return the scroll with the **Doton Dochuu Eigyo no Jutsu (**Earth Style: Underground Fish Projection Jutsu**) **as well as look into some doton theory for his new jutsu. Since being a born prankster, Naruto realized he could create elaborate traps manipulating the earth and such a technique if he manage to create, it would be a great attack against large and gathered crowds of enemies.

Upon walking towards the library, Naruto realized something was amiss. He was getting the feeling that he was being watched, but whoever was following him, seemed to be doing a lousy job at it, since he could very well hear footsteps and some fast breathing like if the person was afraid or something. Upon turning to take a look at his surroundings, he noticed near a wooden face that someone was hiding there. Wanting nothing of it from lack of killing intent towards him, he continued his path towards the library. Little did he know that one Hyuuga Hinata was the one who was following him just like before he left to **train** with Jiraya. Hinata for her part heard rumors about Naruto's sudden growth, being promoted to chunnin and doing high leveled missions with his sensei Hatake Kakashi. Hinata was remembering a conversation she had with her sensei and mother figure Yuhhi Kurenai.

**Flashback on**

Both of them were returning from a mission that was near Kusa territory. They were supposed to scout for the area so they could find a Konoha missing-nin named Tamashiro Raiko. Such man tried to steal Konoha's kenjutsu scroll just like Mizuki tried, but was stopped by an Anbu that was patrolling the region. The scroll was retrieved but the Tamashiro managed to escape and was labeled a B ranked missing-nin, since he was a Tokubetsu Jounin. After finding him near a village close to Kusa border, Kurenai sent the message to a hunter-nin that was close, just wanting the call to eliminate the missing-nin.

Now, they were returning to the village and the two girls started talking. "So Hinata, tell me something. Do you have an interest in someone back at Konoha?" – Asked Kurenai, receiving a red tomato blush from the Hyuuga mistress. "Ano, w-why are you asking that Kurenai-sensei?" – Asked Hinata, afraid from being too obvious about her crush on Naruto. "I don't know. I never saw you with anyone other than Sakura, Ino and Tenten and also you never told me anything about it." – Said Kurenai, hoping that the girl got rid of her supposed crush on Naruto. Kurenai knew about Hinata's crush and sighed knowing that what she felt for Naruto was pure respect and nothing else. Also, Kurenai was hoping that the news of Naruto and Anko being together wouldn't be too much of a blow to her. "I…well…if I had to say a name, I would say…Naruto-kun, but…" – Said Hinata before seeing her sensei looking down for some unknown reason. "Hinata, first of all I don't think that your respect for him can be cited as a being a crush of yours. Also…well…I didn't want to tell you this but Naruto is already seeing someone". – Said Kurenai, dropping the nuclear bomb towards Hinata.

**Flashback off**

When she heard Kurenai saying that Naruto was seeing someone, Hinata fainted in an instant back then. Now, she continued to stalk him, but she was remembering Kurenai's words about her respect for Naruto not being considerate a crush and sighed worried about the way she acted when close to him. Forgetting about Naruto for a moment, Hinata started looking down, wondering about how she acted around her other male peers. Kiba and Shino were always kind and a little overprotective of her, but for Hinata, both of them were like brother figures. Instantly, forgetting about Naruto, Hinata went back home.

* * *

**--At the library--**

Naruto had just arrived at the library and turned to talk to the librarian. After he returned the last scroll, he asked for assistance regarding doton theory scrolls and some books regarding jutsu making. After the delightful request by the blonde, the librarian appreciated that the blonde requested so much of her and she started to work. In less than thirty minutes, the librarian managed to set a whole table with theory on doton ninjutsu and jutsu making for Naruto to start his study. Showing his appreciation towards the librarian, Naruto started looking about the doton theories. He was reading about earth manipulation and how to make deep and wide holes on the ground and how to make earth spikes. Naruto grinned seeing that Naruto's new technique revolved around a mix between pure earth manipulation and a doton ninjutsu called **Doton Ganchuusou no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Earth Spikes Jutsu).

Next, Naruto went to jutsu making books. He was reading about how new and enhanced jutsus improved the village's reputation among the elemental countries. Naruto came upon a page that told about Yondaime's techniques and his large contribution to Konoha's legacy especially during the Third Shinobi War. While reading, Naruto came upon Yondaime's techniques called **Rasengan **and** Hiraishin no jutsu **(Flight of the Thunder God Technique). _While Rasengan was tough to learn, I bet the Hiraishin is by far the most difficult technique one could ever hope to learn. That excuse of a Sannin told me that the Yondaime created the Hiraishin through an extended use of seals and his raiton affinity, hence the name thunder god._

Although Naruto wanted to learn more about the Forth Hokage and his achievements, Naruto wanted to create his new doton jutsu. So, Naruto went to retrieve a blank scroll and started to write how the technique would work and what did it entail. Next, he became to think about a name to the technique, Since the technique entailed a deep and spiked pit, Naruto thought he could as well name it like that, "**Doton Supaiku Ouchi no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Spiked Pit Jutsu). After scribing the theory needed for such a technique on the blank scroll, Naruto thanked the librarian once again for helping him and left towards his house.

Since the moon was starting to show, Naruto figured he could very well see if Anko was available for dinner tonight. He went home in order to have a little shower and put on light clothes, being dark cargo paints and graffiti shirt. After that, he went straight towards Anko's apartment. Naruto learned that she lived close to him and that if he were to look to the left from his apartment, he could see her apartment.

**--At Anko's apartment--**

Having a tough day at the torture department, Anko arrived home, not wishing to do anything other than relax at home and then sleep. Right now, she was wearing her trench coat and her fishnet clothes, heading towards the shower in order to drench the blood feeling out of her. Having to torture a iwa missing-nin to death, Anko still felt the blood pouring out of her hands, even though such liquid wasn't there anymore. As she was about to take off the trench coat, she stopped upon hearing a knock on the door. Grumping, since she didn't want to do anything and even worse if was a messenger-nin from Tsunade sending her for a mission, she opened the door with her eyes closed, mumbling about not wanted to be disturbed, only to hear the only voice that for some reason, did calm her. "Sorry to disturb hime, I just thought of seeing you tonight, even if you don't want to do anything, tonight." – Said Naruto upon seeing Anko opening her eyes and smiling at him. "It's sure nice to see you foxy. Just had a though day down there with Ibiki. It'd be nice if we order some food for us wouldn't it?" – Whispered Anko to which Naruto smiled, since this was his surprise for her.

"That's a great idea. And I've already made preparations for our indoor dinner. My kage bunshin should arrive any minute now if our dinner, ah here he is." – Said Naruto as his clone arrived with their dinner and then vanished before waving goodbye to the snake mistress, since he was after all a clone of Naruto. "You're full of surprises, aren't you gaki". – Said Anko to which Naruto smiled and ushered her inside so as to relax while he set their dinner. "So tell me Anko, what happened today. When you answered the door, I sensed some negative emotions from you". – Asked Naruto, fixing the dango at the table near the couch where Anko was sitting and relaxing. "Just some torture that went wrong and the guy ended up being killed before even giving our needed information. I ended up killing him and his blood drenched all over me". – Said Anko, sighing once again remembering the whole interrogation process. "Sorry about that, come eat some dango and I'll tell you about my new jutsu". Said Naruto, before seeing Anko snapping out of her thoughts and started bombarding him on questions about it. "Easy hime, I'll tell you about it". – Smiled Naruto learning about one of the woman's passions apart from dango and…torture. "It's a B ranked jutsu that I named **Doton Supaiku Ouchi no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Spiked Pit Jutsu) and as the name said, I create a hole on the ground with iron spikes on the bottle of it…" – As Naruto was giving a description about his jutsu, Anko was listening intently to the lecture that Naruto was giving her.

Anko, as she listened to Naruto, was wondering how the hell he learned that much about doton ninjutsu and how he came up with such idea. She remembered about his prankster side back when he was younger and some of her peers back at Anbu when trying to get him after his pranksters. The sight of a spiked pit against a group of enemies at the same time was one hell of a good jutsu. "Once you are able to do it, you have to teach me, foxy. I'd like to say I had a part on the creation of such technique after Tsunade enrolled on Konoha's jutsu arsenal". – Said Anko, smiling while forgetting everything about what occurred at the torture and interrogation division.

After some time chatting about life in general, Anko told Naruto about having a shower until he arrived and she saw which looked like a devious smile. Then without saying anything, Naruto walked straight to Anko and surprised her with a passionate kiss together with his hands caressing her face. Anko at first was taken aback by the surprise but it didn't take long until she complied and returned the kiss while hugging Naruto. After breaking the kiss, Naruto turned to whisper softly on her ears, making her shiver up inside. "About that shower of yours, you wouldn't mind if I joined you, right?" – Asked Naruto, making Anko melt at thinking of what he was suggesting, but not wanting to lose the teasing contest, Anlo suppressed the nose bleed as best as she could and turned to whisper to him. "I was hoping you joined me, Naruto-kun. I want to pass my hand all over your wet body". – Said Anko to which Naruto smiled before start taking his shirt off and kiss her again with passion.

* * *

**--At the shower--**

Naruto and Anko entered and immediately the making out started. With a sponge, Naruto started massaging Anko's body as well as cleaning all the blood feeling. Meanwhile, Naruto was licking Anko's neck making her moan in delight. Anko was trembling with excitement and while doing such a stressing and strenuous task, Anko was in need of Naruto's**company** tonight. Now out of her mind, Anko just let Naruto please her with his tongue and hands passing gently all over her body, making her body relax and let her hormones take over. After some teasing on both part, Naruto embraced Anko from behind, putting it in slowly, sending waves of pleasure to Anko until he reached the end of her walls, making her hormones explode like a grand fireball jutsu inside her.

Naruto and Anko went on for half an hour before both of them couldn't hold anymore. After a birth control jutsu, Naruto and Anko both came at the same time and both of them just loved the moment. After that, Anko invited Naruto to sleep over. Needless to say he gladly accepted.

* * *

**--The next day--**

Since Anko had the next day off since the whole torture fiasco, she decided to help her lover with his new technique and hopefully get to learn as well. Both got up after a dream sleep and went to Naruto's place in order to grab his chunnin vest and clothes, before head to a training ground nearby.

Now if people were to see Anko, they would find particularly strange that she was showing a different smile on her face. Such smile showed happiness, she was at ease again. It was like before she met the snake sannin and such a sight was completely lost if it weren't for the blonde chunnin and the fact that he gave to Anko what she wanted the most, love. Anko, deep down inside, always wanted a man to hold her, to love her. Naruto managed what not even the Sandaime could and that was saying a lot, since the third hokage was the only family Anko had. Kurenai, even though her friend, couldn't approach her heart like Naruto did and with that Anko was extremely pleased with finding a guy like Naruto.

Naruto for his part was having the same thoughts about finding someone like Anko. Since their mission together, he felt attracted to her in a way that he never felt before. Naruto wondered if he could describe such a feeling about her, but for some unknown reason, he couldn't. He just kept thinking about her and he couldn't explain why. As they started jumping towards the training ground, he turned to look at her smile and immediately felt at ease with himself, it was like his world revolved all around her smile. _It amazes me that this Anko was the same as the one of my first chunnin exams, but then again that wasn't the real Anko. No, this is the real she. _

As both of them arrived at the training ground, they were surprised to see some of the rookie 9 and Team Gai. Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, Ino, Chouji and Lee were hanging with each other since all of them were without missions at the moment and apart from Naruto, they don't train on their day off. As Ino turned, she witnessed Naruto arrive with what appeared to be the proctor of their first chunnin exams and found it quite strange to say the least. She remembered Sakura saying that Naruto changed but she didn't get to see much except his fight at the chunnin exams and Shikamaru saying a thing or two about his abilities. "Guys, why is Naruto with that Anko lady?" – Asked Ino, gathering everyone's attention towards the new couple. Shikamaru and Neji were the least surprised of the group, knowing already from their old senseis how much Anko cheered for him and Kakashi later telling Gai and Asuma about the new couple, but Ino and Tenten's case were quite different. "How dare Naruto do such a thing? What about Hinata and Sakura?" – Asked Ino, receiving nod from Tenten who was thinking among the same line. Demanding an explanation, Ino went close to the new couple, but even before Ino got to open her mouth, Naruto greeted her without even looking at her. "Hello Ino, how are you doing?" – Asked Naruto, gaining Anko and Ino's attention, since both of them were surprised that Naruto knew about Ino behind him.

"Naruto, h..how did you know it was me?" – Asked Ino, forgetting what she was about to do. "Well, you wouldn't believe if I sensed your chakra signature. So, I'll say that I sensed someone pissed for some reason, so I immediately knew it was you." – Said Naruto grinning deviously at making such a remark, making Anko and Shikamaru laugh at it. Ino for her part was quite angry not only because of Naruto's commentary, but also Shikamaru's laughter, but since Naruto started the whole thing, Ino instantly charged for the **Shintenshin no Jutsu** only for Naruto to make a kage bunshin and Ino enter the clone's body. "Ino, I'm quite uncomfortable when people decide that they can do whatever they want with me and here comes you wanting to take over my body. Now, since you're trapped inside my kage bunshin, I can do whatever I want with you". – Said Naruto, smiling while looking towards Anko who also smirked as well, since she got to tease Ino a little bit. "You never cease to amaze me, foxy. Okay Ino-chan let's get the teasing on the road, shall we?" – Said Anko, licking her lips and proceed to make a move on Ino in Naruto's body.

Ino for her part was receiving images of Naruto's memories about him and Anko and was blushing madly while on Naruto's body. She was seeing it all. The teasing was too much for her and she focused all of her chakra to get out of Naruto's clone, only managing to get out using most of her chakra before going back to her body. "I hope you learned your lesson Ino-san" – Said Naruto, ushering Anko to leave and proceed with the technique.

Shikamaru and Neji were applauding Naruto's strategy about how to deal with Ino and Shikamaru was taking notes on how to learn the **kage bunshin no jutsu. **Lee was screaming things about Naruto's fire of youth and how Anko got to see that as well, much to Tenten's dismay since she was against relationships such as the one that Naruto and Anko seem to be having.

* * *

**--At another training ground--**

Anko was laughing the entire way on to another training ground. Never before she thought of do such a thing with a Yamanaka and only a prankster like Naruto could pull this off. Naruto for his part was enjoying immensely. The reason was because he just found his prankster partner and he was imagining already doing other pranks on people they knew.

But since they were here to invent a new doton jutsu, Naruto turned serious and reached for his blank scroll. First of all, he needed to see the chakra needed to create the ground. Not wanting to lose precious time, Naruto did the necessary hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground, making a ten foot deep hole and five feet wide. Thinking about how much chakra he wasted doing that, which wasn't much seeing that his chakra capacity was enormous. On his next attempt, he doubled the size of the hole and smirked seeing that the size was perfect.

Picking his scroll, he wrote the chakra needed for create the hole and the hand seals needed. Next part was the spikes creation and filing the hole with it. Anko for her part was resting near a tree, studying the justu's creation with interest. Naruto was taking each step with care, just like he learned on the book and Anko was feeling strange, seeing what once was the dead last of his class creating an elemental jutsu which by the way wasn't even one of his affinities.

Regarding the spikes, Naruto did the jutsu to create the spikes and with the chakra that he used, he was able to create ten spikes that came out of the ground. Calculating that the hole with 20 feet wide needed to contain at least 50 spikes on the ground, Naruto raised the chakra needed to create such a number and the hand seals for such. After writing such information, Naruto now turned to create his new technique. Naruto figured that if he mixed the hand seals between both techniques and using the chakra needed for both at the same time, he could create the spiked pit. On his first attempt, Naruto managed to make a five feet hole with a couple of spikes on the ground. Now after seeing the first try, Naruto started to analyze it. On the first attempt, Naruto used just the necessary chakra to create the hole and some spikes. Now he needed to use just more chakra since he managed to make two techniques together.

Anko was amazed at such a display. She only saw such ability with Iwa shinobis and Naruto managed to do such a thing. Back to Naruto, he was already doing the hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground. What happened after got Anko's jaw fall to the ground and Naruto to smile in triumph. Near Naruto was a 20 feet wide hole filled with iron spikes at the bottom, creating one hell of a trap. "Yes, I did it, my own jutsu" – Screamed Naruto, receiving complements from Anko as well as pleading him to teach her. "I'll teach you, Anko-hime, but first I need to conclude the theory here". – Said Naruto before scribing the last paragraphs. After that, Naruto turned to teach to his lover the jutsu who got it mastered on her fifth try, since Anko found the jutsu extremely chakra consuming. "Foxy, this jutsu drained a lot of chakra. I doubt Tsunade would label it as a B ranked one. I'll bet she is rising up to A ranked". – Said Anko, though she was proud of seeing that it was Naruto who invented it. "Well, I did think originally would be an A ranked technique, but I wasn't sure of Konoha's standards these days, but is up to Tsunade though".

As Naruto and Anko were talking, Anko learned that although Naruto liked fuuton and suiton jutsus, doton was a good one as well. Naruto also told her that while in order to upgrade to jounin, the ninja must have control over at least two affinities, having knowledge of three would be beneficial when he entered Anbu. A moment later, Tonari arrived greeting Naruto as well as saying that the Hokage needed to talk to both him and Anko. Naruto, after thanking Tonari, went with Anko towards the Hokage's office, wondering if both of them would be on another mission together. Anko was thinking along those lines as well and was quite hoping for it.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

Inside Tsunade's office, a team of Anbu was waiting there for their next mission. Tsunade was having second thoughts about what she indented to do. Tenzou (codename Yamato) was there asking the Hokage if this was a good idea. They were heading for an S ranked mission towards Fire Country's border with Earth Country where they would encounter an S ranked missing nin by the name of Kaido Aoi, Iwa's diamond fang. The man was considered missing nin after a failed attempt of murdering the Tsuchikage. Rumors said that the Tsuchikage ordered Iwa Anbus to kill his family since he didn't want to comply with his orders. The mission was to either retrieve him to Konoha's cause or at least convince him not to set foot near the Fire Country. Said man was considered relatively unstable since the murder of his family and with his power, just his presence was enough to scare those who knew who he was.

Therefore Tenzou's team was the one selected to confront him if necessary. Being one of the best teams in full combat skills, this team would as well receive a backup. Someone who had the chakra capacity of a kage and with enough skills on ninjutsu in order to face the enemy, but both Tenzou and Tsunade weren't sure if Naruto had the experience for such a foe. As he entered the office together with Anko, Naruto managed to see a team of Anbu together with Tsunade, which he could only conclude that was about his request some time ago. "Tsunade-sama, how can we be of service and if you don't mind me asking, why Yamato is here as well?" – Asked Naruto, earning looks of surprises from the Anbu team, Tsunade and Anko. Yamato wasn't, since he long ago figured out Naruto's ability of feeling chakra signatures. "One of these days, I'll inquire you as to how the hell did you know that Yamato was one of the Anbus present, Naruto. But that comes for later. Now, I want you to give me a straight answer here, okay. This Anbu team is heading out to face an S ranked iwa missing nin called Kaido Aoi, AKA Iwa's ex-diamond fang. Since this team focused more on close combat varying from kenjutsu and taijutsu, they requested a ninjutsu specialist to assist them on long range attacks. Yamato and I considered a lot of possibilities and your name appeared on this list. Since you have experience in three elements, you'd be perfect for the job, but you can back off if you feel you're not ready yet". – Said Tsunade, though a part of her wished he would back off, since he didn't have the experience needed for such a mission, but another part of her wished to see him in action.

Naruto for his part was stunned and surprised to say the least. Naruto was never fund of history, but anyone would know that no chunnin ever got any missions higher than 'B'. 'A' ranked missions were the exception and that was only given when the village was lacking of jounins and Anbus to do it. Now here it is a chunnin been given an 'S' ranked mission. Naruto turned to study the Hokage's face since everyone else was either wearing masks or not having a clue on what was happening. Tsunade was serious about it, he could tell. Naruto now turned to think of his abilities and if he would be able to face such a difficult mission. Along the way, Naruto was thinking about the level of his enemies and truth be told, Sasuke was at least A ranked level, with Orochimaru and Akatsuki being S ranked, therefore if he couldn't face this Aoi character, what choices would he have against Orochimaru, Sasuke and Akatsuki. "Tsunade-sama, even though I know that such a mission would require, I feel that I would like to test my abilities against such an opponent. Since he is S ranked, if I can't at least pair with him, then I don't have what it takes to protect myself if I were to face Akatsuki or Sasuke in the future. Therefore, I accept this mission" - Said Naruto, earning looks of pride from Anko, Tenzou and the rest of the Anbus present and fear from the hokage.

"Okay, Naruto. Since you'll be heading with a team of Anbus, you'll need to be dressed like one. For this mission, your codename will be shippuu (hurricane). You'll be receiving an animal mask as well. Since you already have a sword, you don't have to switch. Normally, Anbu uses Ninjato for mobility, but since you already are proficient with your katana, you won't need. Now, which animal would you like?" – Asked Tsunade to which Naruto turned to think about it. Naruto never took himself to think of any animal in his life. He was always busy trying to stay alive and training. But one particular animal did come to mind and from inside, he smiled after hearing the damn monster inside his body laugh at his choice. "Tsunade-sama, I would like a fox mask if I may". – Said Naruto, only expecting everyone's eyes go wide and some jaws go down and began his explanation. "Whether I want it or not, the damn kitsune is a part of my life and I choose to embrace the fact that we are together as one. I'm not saying that I will use his chakra, I'm only saying that I don't care anymore about being a jinchuuriki" – Said Naruto, before waiting everyone return their eyes and jaws to normal and start seeing eyes of sadness which pissed him off to no end. "With all due respect to all people here in this office, if you look at me with such eyes again, I'll literally bit the crap of all of you". – Said Naruto now licking some killing intent in order to prove his point. Tsunade for her part remembered Kakashi back then and mentally punched her head for doing so. "On behalf of the hokage, we apologize Naruto. It was quite a surprise to hear that from you Naruto, but since you are indeed stronger now. – Said Tsunade, rising everyone from their pity towards him.

"You're not the only one surprised, Hokage-sama. Although the damn fox instead is laughing like a maniac right now, it's really annoying though if you ask me". – Said Naruto to which Tsunade flinched remembering Naruto saying that he communicated with the Kyuubi. But Tenzou and his team as well as Anko were surprised and a little scared of the fact that Naruto talked to the demon. "Okay, Naruto you and team Yamato are to leave in two hours. Take these clothes and the mask will be with Yamato once you arrive, good luck to you all."

* * *

**--At Naruto's apartment--**

After leaving Hokage's office, Naruto arrived at his apartment alone since Anko stayed behind for a debriefing on her mission as well. It appeared that some strange occurrences were happening near Wave Country and Anko was sent to investigate. Since Kiri is trapped in a civil war, the wave daimyou requested Konoha for assistance, since he got high recommendations from the bridge builder Tazuna about a certain blonde chunnin. Before leaving, Tsunade thanked Naruto for getting Konoha a new client and then dismissed him once again for him to dress up and go to the gates.

After he got dressed, Naruto went out of his apartment but not before taking a look on his new appearance. Longing to become a member of Anbu, Naruto smiled in approval of the outfit as well as imagining the kitsune mask. Also he was wondering about his codename. Obviously it was because of his natural ability with fuuton chakra, but he couldn't help but smile from such a cool codename.

As he jumped towards the rendezvous point, his chakra senses spotted Kakashi heading there as well as Anko. Naruto figured that his sensei would've got the news of his mission and Anko just wanted to see him leave.

* * *

**--At the rendezvous point--**

Upon arrival, Naruto came in contact with Yamato and his team, since being an Anbu means they have to be ready at any time. After Naruto, arrived Kakashi and Anko as well. Kakashi for his part was looking at Naruto with pride in his eyes. He knew that Naruto wasn't instated in Anbu yet, but to see him with the uniform certainly spoke high of himself. Kakashi always worried that since he couldn't train Naruto the blonde would become stagnant within his abilities and would not grow. But seeing his development after returning from his trip with Jiraya, Kakashi could only wonder what will be of Naruto's future as shinobi.

Anko for her part was practically drooling at the visage of her lover being a part of Anbu. Since the uniform didn't cover the arms, Anko got to see Naruto's ripped muscles and her hormones were beginning to take over. Unfortunately, since both of them would go to different missions, Anko dismissed the thoughts for now, but promised to relieve the tension on her first day travelling to Wave Country.

Yamato gave the kitsune mask to Naruto and he put it on, showing a different aspect of Naruto that no one saw before. Now with his mask, you couldn't tell that he was only sixteen you couldn't tell that he was just a chunnin. Kakashi smiled at the appearance and Anko drooled even more if such a thing was possible. Now, she couldn't handle herself anymore. She had to do something. "Naruto, could you come here for a second. I want to talk with you in private". – Said Anko receiving a nod from the blonde who proceeded together with her to a rooftop nearby. "Foxy, take off your mask please". – Whispered Anko now not sure if the pressure could be released with just what she was thinking about doing it. Naruto complied, not sure what Anko wanted, but complied. "Ok, hime what do you…." – Said Naruto, before receiving one of the most passionate kiss from Anko. Anko for her part was kissing him madly with her hands feeling his armor and arms with intensity, getting instant transmission on sex images from before. Naruto now was returning the kiss knowing what Anko was doing.

After a whole minute, both of them broke the kiss, eagerly wanting to go home and start with the love making but since both of them had missions, the sex would have to wait. Meanwhile, Kakashi was chatting with Yamato about what Anko wanted to talk to Naruto. Since both of them knew about the little affair, while Yamato thought that Anko was worried about him, Kakashi knew what was going on, seeing that Anko was caught drooling for Naruto before.

After they returned, Naruto and the Anbu team went forward their mission after waving for Kakashi and Anko. Aoi was spotted just entering Fire Country's border and the team had to keep a steady pace in order to reach their destination tomorrow morning. Their schedule was to arrive at the town closest to the border and rest for the morning. Then, they would engage the enemy.

Naruto was from behind the squad observing the team's abilities and the way Anbu travel through the trees. He was able to see that because of such a formation, the squad was able to cover each other. If an enemy were to attack one of them, the other two would jump in assist before the enemy could process what was going on. Naruto came to know that Anbu often favored physical skills over ninjutsu and genjutsu, so he vowed also to train himself more in kenjutsu from Rikimaru.

After travelling for nearly five hours, the Anbu team was surprised to see that Naruto wasn't even tired but Yamato told them that he was a stamina freak, so they dismissed the thoughts. "Ok, team we'll have four hours to rest. We'll rotate for scout. Each member will keep watch for one hour, therefore, everyone get three hours to sleep. Shippuu come here for a second, I want to talk to you." – Said Yamato before ushering the first Anbu to take watch. "What is it Yamato taichou?"

"Shippuu, you're assigned for this mission not only to assist us with long range attacks but for another reason. Tsunade-sama also believes that you can convince him to join our forces, seeing that she thinks you have a way of changing people. But be ready for anything, we don't know if he can become hostile" – Said Yamato to which Naruto was damn pissed, but chose not to let Yamato know. "Understood, I take from my role in this, that I am to engage the conversation with him?" – Asked Naruto to which Yamato got to do the thinking pose. He wasn't sure if the guy would respect Naruto long enough to bother hearing him. "No, the guy is an S ranked missing-nin, a guy of his level can determine the strength of the opponent just from his behavior and voice expression. Don't worry; I'll engage conversation with him. You are to back me up" – Said Yamato, receiving a nod from Naruto who after that proceeded to rest, since he would take the last watch.

* * *

**--On the next day--**

Aoi was travelling with a black cape and black kimono. He entered Fire Country just to escape some Iwa hunter nins, since they wouldn't have the authority to attack him. The truth is he was damned tired of Iwa. Since he was charged for the Tshuchikage's assassination, he didn't have other alternative so he escaped. Already on his forties, the man wanted to rest. Being a part of Iwa Anbu for twenty five years now, he was aging faster than normal. Since the loss of his family, the guy nearly snapped once. Since then, he wasn't the same anymore and therefore he needed to go somewhere where no one would attack him. Little did he know that a team of Konoha's Anbu would be arriving shortly.

Aoi was wondering about Fire Country's beauty and if he could somewhat find a place for him to stay far away from everyone. Suddenly, he caught four people moving with speed peculiar to Anbu forces and wondered if the damn Tsuchikage ordered such a mission. _Something is amiss here. They are certainly Anbu level shinobi, but their chakra signature is different, they are not from Iwa. Damn Konoha found me and I cannot escape, I have to face them. _

As the team arrived, Aoi made Iwa's hardening body jutsu and got ready for an assault. When he saw that Konoha's Anbu, even though ready for battle, wasn't focused on attacking, he became suspicious about it. _What do they want with me? If they didn't came here to attack me, what else?_

"Kaido Aoi, Iwa's diamond fang. We are here to offer you Konoha citizenship. We are aware of your status as Iwa's missing nins and therefore you know that they won't leave you be. If you join Konoha, I have explicit orders from Lady Tsunade to escort you back to Konoha and offer you a place to stay". – Said Yamato, using Tsunade's name since Aoi met Tsunade in the past. Aoi for his part was dumbfounded. _Konoha wanting him to pledge alliance with me and Tsunade, the nerve of that woman, she owes me high for losing in poker. I should just go there and collect her debt. _"Hahaha, that old hag is just getting rid of her debt to me by offering such a thing. Pathetic of her, don't you think Anbu-san. Tell her that I refuse her offer and tell her that I didn't forget her debt to me". – Said Aoi before leaving, only to hear one of the Anbus laughing like a maniac.

When he turned to see the one with a kitsune mask, holding his stomach from laughing so hard, he was curious to say the least. Just his presence got people to pee in their pants, but this person is laughing. _Maybe he snapped from being scared of me. _Aoi was wondering and decided to ask the guy. "Why are you laughing kid?" – Asked Aoi while demonstrating killing intent, making all Anbu present reach of their swords in case the man attacked. Yamato for his part wanted to pound Naruto to the ground for mocking an S ranked missing-nin. "Oh, nothing Aoi-san, is just that is so typical of Tsunade-Baa-Chan to do such a thing. I mean she always escaped from people she owed. I just never thought she would do that to you as well". – Said Naruto before seeing the Iwa missing-nin barely holding himself from laughing like a maniac as well.

"Haha, I like you kid, tell me what's your name?" – Asked Aoi, making everyone's jaws fall to the ground by the sight of an S ranked missing nin enjoying talking badly about their Hokage's bad gambling habits together with the blonde. "Sorry Aoi-san, but my identity for now is hidden, you must know since you're an Anbu yourself, right?" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from the Iwa missing-nin in recognition of his time in Anbu. "I know that kid, okay. Answer me something" – Said Aoi to which the Anbu team flinched knowing that if the answer wasn't satisfying, they would have to fight.

"If you were to evaluate your abilities right now, in which level you think you are?" – Asked Aoi, surprising Naruto who wasn't expecting such a question, but answer nonetheless. "I would say high chunnin, low level jounin level. But I'm not sure, why do you ask, Aoi-san?" – Said Naruto to which Yamato got prepared in case Naruto was attacked first. For his part, he also considered Naruto to be in such a level and he knew that the iwa missing-nin could attack him first. "Huh, quite modest aren't you kid? Humility it's good when you're training, but confidence is vital against an enemy. Don't ever forget that" – Said Aoi before turning his back to Naruto.

Naruto for his part wasn't slowing his guard because of this. He was feeling a slight raise in the guy's chakra and quite frankly, he was kind of apprehensive about such a fight, but he needed to see where he stood against enemies of such a level. Studying his opponent, Naruto's hand reached for his katana in advance seeing that the man had a ninjato and such a sword was quicker in deadlier in close ranged combat. Aoi for his part was actually considering the invitation even if he were just to collect his debt, but he wanted a fight to gauge these ninjas ability. Already choosing his opponent, Aoi moved himself in speed that rivaled Rock Lee and with his ninjato now in his hands, he attacked Naruto only to stop on his tracks by a katana with double of his sword's size and strength, making the ninjato trembles upon impact. Being on a standstill, Naruto was smiling behind his mask from managing to block such an attack but humility was his characteristic and he needed to be focused. "Yamato-taichou I want to fight him alone, if I may". – Said Naruto, getting nods from his peers.

Smirking at the quick maneuver from the kid, Aoi jumped back while doing hand seals and saying "**Doton Doryuudan no Jutsu" (**Earth Style: Earth Dragon Projectile Jutsu), making a mud dragon shoot mud projectiles with speed still unfamiliar to Naruto who knew he couldn't dodge in time. Resorting to defensive, Naruto jumped through the necessary hand seals saying "**Fuuton Shouheki no Jutsu **(Wind Style: Wind Barrier Jutsu). With that, Naruto created two typhoons in front of him, eliminating the mud projectiles, earning a nod from the iwa missing nin, praising this kid's ninjutsu ability when suddenly he saw Naruto flashing through hand seals quickly "**Fuuton Daitoppa no Jutsu (**Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu), before sending a huge gust of wind towards the opponent catching him off guard since the wind was far stronger than it should be. Needing to set his foot on the ground, Aoi hardened his body using earth chakra, managing to hold himself until the wind stopped.

Yamato for his part was seeing this new Naruto and was dumbstruck. This guy was holding himself against an S ranked missing nin, even though the fight was just to measure power than anything. Aoi for his part wanted to step up a notch and started attacking Naruto. He sped up and went behind Naruto, surprising him, leaving him no option but to use shunshin and get the hell out of there. Making twenty kage bunshins for cover, Naruto used them as cover to make his ultimate technique. While Aoi was having his way with the bunshins, Naruto and another bunshin were making the **Fuuton Rasenshuriken no Jutsu.**

When Aoi saw the technique, he was in fact impressed with such a technique. It was hard to describe it; it looked like a wind shuriken spinning madly. It looked like a chainsaw. Anything that went close to it seemed to slice right through it. Wanting to face the technique, Aoi charged head on and when Naruto charged with it, Aoi evaded jumping high into the air, witnessing the destruction of Naruto's technique with gusto. _This kid sure is something. _Naruto for his part cursed the man for getting out at the last minute, though he was grinning like a maniac, since he got to test his new technique. Because of the fact that Aoi was on the air, he couldn't stop falling right to where Naruto intent to create the trap. Going through a high sequence of hand seals, which was strangely familiar to Aoi since he was an Iwa shinobi, he heard Naruto screaming his technique and slamming his hand on the ground "**Doton Supaiku Ouchi no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Spiked Pit Jutsu)"**. **Upon seeing the spiked pit, Aoi curse the kid. If he were to keep falling, he would fall on the spikes, killing him instantly. _Man, I never knew such a technique, you've convinced me Kid. _Hardening his body with all his chakra, Aoi landed on the spikes, breaking them upon impact and then jumping straight in front of Naruto, staring at the Anbu for a second.

"Kid, take off your mask, I want to see the face of the man who just beat me in combat." – Said Aoi, shocking everyone, since he was out of chakra since all was used to avoid death. "I have no reason to keep it anymore, you see I'm not actually Anbu material yet, but I'm getting there…I guess" – Said Naruto as he took off his mask, making Aoi piss himself because of it. _Yellow flash as alive, it's no wonder why I lost to him_. "I thought you were killed Yellow Flash, what happened?" – Asked Aoi to which Naruto was wondering what the hell he was talking about and for the team of Anbus to wide in shock once again, from actually seeing that Naruto looked a lot like Minato. "Yellow Flash? I'm not the Yondaime Hokage, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Aoi-san. Now, what's your answer? Did my abilities showed enough for you?" – Asked Naruto, dismissing the thought of being confused with Yondaime Hokage, but he made a mental note to ask either Kakashi or Tsunade about that, seeing that Iwa tend to recognize their worst enemy.

"Yeah kid, you are indeed strong, I'll come with you, but with one condition, though. The last technique I've never seen it before. What is it?" – Asked Aoi, as he moved together with the Anbu team forward Konoha. "That's my new jutsu named **Doton Supaiku Ouchi no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Spiked Pit Jutsu). I've just created it". – Said Naruto, as he turned to talk to the new ally.

Yamato for his part thought about sending a message to Tsunade warning her of Naruto wanting to know about Aoi mistaking him for Namikaze Minato. Scribing quickly and sending a messenger hawk towards the Hokage's tower.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

Tsunade was looking through the window wondering about Naruto's well being when Shizune came rushing with news from Yamato. Ripping the note from Shizune's hands, Tsunade turned to read it.

'_Tsunade-sama, you'll be pleased to hear that Naruto managed to convince Aoi to come to Konoha with us. But, I believe there are two reasons for concern. First of all, Aoi wants to collect a debt that he has with you Hokage-sama (while reading Tsunade flinched cursing the man from remembering). But the second news will be most troubling, Aoi after seeing Naruto's face, mistook him for the Yondaime and Naruto became suspicious. I believe he'll want to know why he was mistaken with the Yellow Flash of Konoha. We should be arri__ving tomorrow afternoon. Until then, Yamato'._

"Damn it, Naruto. I didn't want for you to know it yet, but it seems that we don't have a choice. Shizune, tell Kakashi to arrive here tomorrow morning, Jiraya, Iruka and Anko should be here as well. Contact them and tell them we have a situation pertaining Naruto's blood relatives". – After an apprehensive nod from Shizune, Tsunade cursed herself from being the one to deliver such news to him. _Well, at least I'm not taking the blame alone_.


	10. Heritage

**Chapter**** 10 – ****Heritage**

On the way back to Konoha, the Anbus and Konoha's newest citizen were taking their time through walking. Aoi and Naruto were talking about Naruto's new jutsu and the theory behind it. Aoi was surprised to see this kid was able to mix two doton jutsus and be able to manipulate them accordingly to what the technique entailed. Also Aoi was suspicious of the blonde's looks. He could've sworn the yellow flash was back from the dead when Naruto took off his Anbu mask.

Aoi was no stranger to Konoha's history and he knew that the Yondaime of Konohagakure Namikaze Minato died sixteen years ago, defeating the nine-tailed demon fox Kyuubi no Yoko. Yet this kid looks so much like him that Aoi thought that he would finally get to see the Hiraishin no Jutsu that made the fourth hokage famous over all the shinobi villages and even places that didn't house any ninjas. Naruto for his part got to know a little bit of the man's life so far. Lost his family to a bunch of Suna missing-nins three years ago and got framed by Iwa for trying to assassinate the Tsuchikage, while on his sleep. According to Aoi, he was present at the house only to inform the kage of a delicate S ranked mission where two of his teammates were killed; he saw the killer and assaulted him. The man escaped and Aoi was found inside by some Anbus with the weapon of murder on his hands.

As the conversation between the two ended, silence took over and the group just walked straight to Konoha, without muttering even a single word to each other. However Naruto, behind his mask, was displaying a peculiar smirk on his face. One that meant the possibility of new jutsus or even the creation of a new jutsu, since with Aoi, the possibilities were endless. Naruto knew, though, that the man wanted to rest his old and retired body and maybe he wouldn't even consider teaching anything or even passing on his knowledge, so he wouldn't push his luck more than a simple 'yes' or 'no' question.

* * *

**--At Tsunade's office--**

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade, Jiraya, Kakashi, Iruka and Anko were having a heated discussion about how to break the news of his heritage to the boy. It was common knowledge by everyone how much Naruto saw the Yondaime as a target to overcome in terms of strength and ninja arts and the fact that the man wasn't only his father, but also the one who happened to seal the nine-tailed demon inside Naruto, none of them knew how Naruto would react to the news. Jiraya and Tsunade were hoping that the blonde would forget about asking, not because they didn't want to tell him the truth. They wished the boy had at least become jounin before brining such bomb. Kakashi, Iruka and Anko were dead silent just seeing the two sannin's discussion about how to tell him his heritage.

But inside, Kakashi was thinking about what would be the repercussions concerning his teacher/student relationship he had with Naruto and now the partnership in missions. The silver haired jounin was afraid that Naruto would think less of him from keeping such information from him, but he made an oath of silence about it and there was nothing he could do now. Iruka for his part was thinking more on the lines of telling him the truth and then see the consequences; but then he feared of the living inside the blonde. Knowing that the beast's chakra becomes active when Naruto suffers negative emotions, Naruto could very well lose his control over the beast.

Now Anko was a different thing entirely. Knowing Naruto's heritage, something she smacked her head from not associating the fourth Hokage with her lover, hence the face that the two looked identical, well except for the whisker marks which to Anko those only made him look even hotter than before. Now regarding to whole telling him that his father was the one who sealed the damn kitsune inside of him and made his life a living hell, certainly would unravel bad outcomes if Naruto was to become emotionally unstable, but she believed that her boyfriend would overcome this situation just like he did with every obstacle that appeared on his way. Still she knew that such news would be hard to take it in all at once.

"So, we all agree to tell Naruto of his heritage when he arrives and since all of you knows him and keep him in high regards, I believe it's vital that everyone should be here to tell him. With us here, maybe he'd be more at ease and be able to cope with the news and the reason why we kept such personal information from him for this long." – Said Tsunade getting nods from everyone present. "I agree. Iruka and Kakashi are like brothers to him and Anko well….hehehee" – Said Jiraya, earning anger looks from Anko who muttered promised of low death like poisons circulating his veins by the end of the day to which made Jiraya shivered, since he knew the girl would do it in a heartbeat. While not as blunt as Tsunade's punches, Anko's threats managed to tell the same message to the perverted excuse of a sannin. "Anko, as much as I'd like to see such a threat, we need him to break the news for Naruto." – Said Tsunade to which Jiraya screamed at her.

"WHAT!!Why me, Tsunade-hime? Can't Anko say it while you know…heheheh"- Said Jiraya, giggling like a maniac from the prospect of his new book when his ninja senses caught glimpse of a viper appearing in front of a wide-grinned Anko who happened to be enjoying the sensation of seeing a helpless perverted being attacked viciously by the viper and then for the bite. "Say one more word about this Jiraya-_sama_ and I'll make sure this little friend of mine will be paying you a visit." – Said Anko, as the viper hissed its tongue in defiance since that meant it would not has his prey today.

* * *

**--With Naruto--**

Only miles from Konoha, the Anbu group and the new Konoha citizen could already see the village's outskirts. Aoi was already imagining a little cottage for him with enough space for him to just rest until his mind and heart healed from losing his family. Aoi, even though was an iwa shinobi, grew differently from his peers. Never letting hate from the last shinobi war take over, Aoi was one of few in Iwa that didn't think badly of Konoha because of one man. Naruto for his part was evaluating how would be to become an Anbu now that he was wearing the armor and mask and all but he knew that this mission was nothing like the usual ones real Anbu partake. He knew from Yamato and Kakashi that Anbu missions are A to S ranked and as such, to think that they are dangerous would be an understatement. '_This mission was more diplomatic, than anything. Anbu missions are much tougher than this. Not to mention the fact that Aoi-san was holding back the entire time. Nevertheless, he could very well wipe the floor with me.' – _Thought Naruto as he assessed his situation at the moment.

* * *

**--****Inside of Konoha --**

Not even bothering to stop, since Anbu masks are their passport, the team simply walked in with their new citizen who happen to be seizing up the village and its whereabouts, when Naruto and Yamato approached. "Aoi-san, it would be preferable if we head for Hokage-sama's office to alert her of our arrival." – Said Yamato to which Aoi nodded, while grinning since he would get to charge his debt finally. "Okay, Anbu-san. Let's go then, the quicker we go there, the quicker I can collect my debt".

With that Naruto, Yamato and Aoi initiated their walk towards the Hokage's office. Because of the fact that Yamato and Naruto were still with their masks on, some of the villagers stared at the man being escorted by two Anbu shinobis with slight fear, since they thought Aoi was some sort of criminal that was caught. Some shinobis recognized the man from the bingo book and immediately tensed.

On the way, Naruto spotted two familiar faces, but since he was wearing the mask, his identity was to remain hidden at least until he removed the mask. Shikamaru and Chouji were discussing about what their next mission entailed when their eyes caught sight of the two Anbu members escorting what looked like Iwa's diamond fang. Seeing this, Chouji tensed as well, but kept his cool towards the supposed enemy. Shikamaru instead was directing his eyes towards the blonde Anbu member, somehow wondering about the man's familiarity.

Aoi for his part was gauging Konoha's shinobi only to see most of them tensing just from his presence. Aoi shrugged, seeing that he didn't expect anything less, since he was considered a S ranked missing-nin from Iwa, so Konoha very well should be wary of him. As the two Anbus passed Shikamaru, Naruto turned his head slightly so to tell to his friend Shikamaru that he was there to which Shikamaru just smirked and continued walking with Chouji in order to meet with Asuma and Ino inside the Barbeque place.

* * *

**--Inside the Barbeque place--**

Being already there, Asuma and Ino were ordering some barbeque for their team, since they knew the meat tank would arrive shortly. Shortly after the orders were made, Shikamaru and Chouji arrived and sat on their team's table. "Okay Asuma-sensei, we're all here now what the mission is about?" – Asked Ino to which Asuma just blew some smoke and proceeded to tell about the mission. "It's a B ranked mission near Suna territory, the kazekage asked for help concerning some missing-nins group that were harassing one of their villages near the border with Fire Country. We are to deal with them. We leave after lunch" – Said Asuma, getting nods from his team.

"So Shikamaru, what do you think Iwa's diamond fang was doing here in Konoha?" – Asked Chouji, instantly getting Asuma's attention after hearing a I don't know response from Shikamaru. "Diamond fang is here? How? Wait, why are you two so cool about this?" – Asked Asuma but was interrupted by Ino who was curious. "Who is this Diamond Fang?"

"He was one of the top Anbu captains that ever passed through their ranks. Apparently, the man was framed with the assassination attempt on the Tsuchikage and escaped from the village. He is considered an S ranked missing-nin according to Iwa's bingo book. Now, tell me how you guys know he is in Konoha." – Said Asuma, waiting for answers which came from the lazy bum who was sticking his finger inside his left ear. "No need to worry, he was being peacefully escorted by Anbu, however it didn't stop the guy from seizing every ninja that he passed. I was more surprised with who the Anbu was rather than the fact that the iwa fang was here." – Said Shikamaru, earning glances from his peers who by the look of it, weren't totally satisfied by the lazy chunnin's description. "Shika, who was the Anbu and also why you consider his identity interesting?" – Said Asuma, before he heard Shikamaru mutter 'troublesome' and whispered the guy's name close to his sensei's ear so that his team would not find out about.

Asuma, after hearing Naruto's name, was surprised to say the least. _Man, a couple months ago he passed the chunnin exams and now he is already in Anbu. Damn…that kid._ "I see, quite interesting indeed Shikamaru. Now, seeing that we all ate, let's head to Sunagakure for further instructions." – Said Asuma, dismissing some blabbering from Chouji and Ino who wanted to know about the Anbu's identity and also one of the first time they heard Shikamaru mutter the word 'interesting'.

* * *

**--****Tsunade's office--**

Meanwhile Naruto, Aoi and Yamato entered the Hokage's office, only to see a blonde woman sleeping on the counter. Aoi smirked, while refraining from a full laughter after seeing the almighty Tsunade sleeping on duty. Yamato shrugged it off, not even bothering to wake her up. Naruto for his part, figured he should be the one waking her up. However since he wasn't kin to be on the receiving end of Tsunade's punches, Naruto made a kage bunshin and ordered him to go there and wake her up. "Hey…Tsunade-sama…wake up" – Said the clone but to no avail, then he tried the Naruto way of waking someone up. "Tsunade-baachan wake the hell up" – Screamed the clone seconds before a direct punch came flying at his face, hitting him.

Tsunade, because of the smoke generated from the kage bunshin, woke up mumbling about stupid blondes and Naruto calling her old, but little did she knew that there were others present inside the room, making her smile in embarrassment after seeing Aoi, raising one of his eyebrows while wondering what the hell just happened just now. "Tsunade-hime, sleeping on the job, I see. Tough night?" – Asked Aoi, though it was a rhetorical question. "My apologies Aoi-san; although I don't feel the need of letting you know about what happened yesterday." – Said Tsunade before she glanced at Naruto for a second, wondering if the boy would or not request to know about his heritage. However since Naruto was still wearing a mask, no one could see that he caught Tsunade looking at him after an statement, which made him become suspicious of what happened yesterday. "It's okay, hime. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I never intended to deprive you of your private moments. I just asked a rhetorical question after seeing the state you are in. Now, apart from the whole mission of getting me here as a citizen, I believe Mr. Yamato here must have told you beforehand about my credit, so I'd like to have it, so that I can commence my retirement." – Said Aoi, making Tsunade sigh and deliver Aoi's money to him. "You know, I kind of figured that since you never came to charge, than I thought you didn't want it anymore." – Said Tsunade, now reverting to her travelling with Shizune and the times that she escaped from those whom she owed money to, by resorting to several evasion and deception techniques.

"Well, I would have said something if you didn't flee from Iwa a week before losing to me. And since I was Anbu at the time, it was quite difficult to just hunt you down to charge my debt. I appreciate the payment Tsunade-_sama_. Now, I'll search for an apartment complex for me to rest." – Said Aoi as he moved to leave, but stopped when he heard Tsunade's voice calling him. "Wait Aoi-san. Naruto, take off your mask. Congratulations, mission accomplished. Now, could you show Konoha to Aoi and help him on his search on a place to stay." – Said Tsunade, before seeing Naruto left the room in order to take off the Anbu armor and mask and return with his chunnin outfit, making Aoi raise his eyes in surprise of seeing a mere chunnin displaying jounin's abilities, but he decided not to open his mouth this time. "Now, Aoi-san, the trip on the way back made me hungry, why don't I show you my favorite restaurant in Konoha and then I can show you around" – Said Naruto to which Aoi nodded. "Let's go then. Good day Tsunade-hime, Yamato" – Said Aoi before he and Naruto left the office, leaving only Yamato with Tsunade.

"So, tell me what's our situation concerning Naruto looking like the yondaime?" – Asked Tsunade to which Yamato took off his mask and answered. "On the way back, no one mentioned about Naruto's similarities with the Yondaime Hokage. Although I believe that Aoi-san will enquire him about it eventually. I thought that he would ask to you, but I guess he chose not to". – Said Yamato, earning nod from Tsunade who was thinking about the rather dangerous situation she was in. She knew that Naruto had changed, since the failed Uchiha retrieval, but she wasn't sure how he would handle the situation. "Yamato, if we are to tell him of his heritage, your presence here is obligatory. I don't know how well he controls the beast inside of him and news of his parents can very well disrupt any sort of control he may have regarding Kyuubi. You are the only one who can control it." – Said Tsunade to which Yamato nodded and continued with the line of thinking.

"He sure changed a lot. However, we can never be too careful when the kyuubi is involved. I'll be here when the time is right. Now, is there anything else you need of me, Tsunade-sama?" – Asked Yamato to which Tsunade nodded and dismissed him. After Yamato vanished, Tsunade was in deep thought about all this. She was considering holding the secret at least for a few more time, until Naruto became a jounin.

* * *

**--At Ichirakus--**

Back with Naruto and Aoi, they were currently eating at Ichirakus, enjoying the taste of noodles immensely. Naruto was surprised to see that the man was also a fan for ramen. After three bowls each, Aoi started asking some questions about the village and the blonde in front of him. While some questions were easy to supply, Naruto was stuck with the last one and probably the most sensitive one. "Tell me Naruto. While I was walking around the village, I realized that there aren't many blonde hair and blue eyes around and the only one I knew that has the same hair and eye color as you do is the Yondaime Hokage." – Said Aoi to which Naruto turned into thinking pose. Naruto once thought about asking the Sandaime Hokage about his parents, but since survival was the main concern, that idea was shot down and never came to his mind anymore. Now that he doesn't need to watch his back anymore, the thought came back in. The Yondaime Hokage was and forever will be his role model, but then again could he has any resemblance to the Yondaime. _Could it be? Could it be that he not only sealed the damn monster inside of me, but also I'm...a relative of his. No It can't be…can it? I mean, the picture I saw before looked a lot like me, but if I was his son, I'm sure Jiraya, Tsunade or Kakashi would tell me._

"I don't know Aoi-san. I never knew my parents. I was born alone and had to fetch for myself. I was born an orphan." – Said Naruto, looking down since he remembered what was like when he was leaving at the orphanage. Aoi for his part looked at Naruto's face, only to see sadness all over the place. _This kid is like me, all alone in the world. He lost his parents and I lost my family. _"Believe me when I say that managing to grow up like you did was a remarkable feat Naruto. I don't understand how it is to be an orphan, but I understand the pain of losing a family." – Said Aoi so as to console the boy, using his own example, but Naruto sighed, seeing that very few people in the world understood his condition. "There is also one more thing about my life that troubled and hindered my growth, but that's S ranked secret and I can't tell you. But I can tell you that while you do understand some aspects of life, you couldn't possibly know the other part, unless you're hated for something you didn't cause." – Said Naruto to which Aoi lifted an eyebrow, but decided not to ask since from the looks of Naruto and the fact that it was an S ranked secret, he knew Naruto would not tell him, but didn't prevent him from doing a little research later. Aoi was also known in Iwa from his cunning ability in information gathering.

"Okay, Naruto. You can go your way if you want, I'll be looking for an apartment around this area." - Said Aoi though getting suspicious looks from Naruto who somehow thought that if he let an ex-S ranked missing-nin wondering around even if he's now a Konoha citizen, Tsunade wouldn't be too happy about it. "It's no problem Aoi-san. Besides, I don't have anything to do anyway." – Said Naruto smiling to Aoi who also smiled, seeing that Konoha wasn't so stupid as to let a person like him loose inside the village, so he complied with the company and both of them walked towards an apartment complex nearby.

* * *

**--At the dango place--**

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Jiraya were having a discussion regarding Naruto. The topic of discussion was Akatsuki's whereabouts and Naruto's abilities. Jiraya was thrilled and a little surprised of hearing from Kakashi that the blonde could give the lazy jounin a run for his money. Kakashi told him of how good was Naruto's abilities in ninjutsu as well as kenjutsu and even though he never fought against him in kenjutsu, his friend Rikimaru told good things about Naruto's abilities with the sword. However, both of them were obliviously concerned with Akatsuki. While Naruto was getting stronger, he still wasn't any way near as strong as the Akatsuki members who happened to be close to S ranked.

"I've been following their movements with the help of the toads. They've already captured seven tailed beasts. The only ones missing are of course Kyuubi and the eight-tailed demon. According to the toads, Akatsuki seemed to be focusing on the eight-tailed demon for now, but it's safe to say that once they manage to capture it, Naruto would be next. Now, you and I both know that Naruto even though strong can take against them. He'll need help. We must watch him, so we can protect him." – Said Jiraya to which Kakashi sighed since this line of thinking was what hindered the boy's growth in the first place. Kakashi concurred with Naruto when he said that people tend to underestimate his abilities up to the point of needing to be saved and after hearing it from his sensei's mentor, he right there lost a little bit of respect for the sannin. "Jiraya-sama, even though I concur with the fact that Naruto have to be stronger in order to face Akatsuki, you would do well not to diminish his ablities. Naruto told me about underestimation and now I concur with him. He is not to be treated as a special person who needed to be looked after anymore; he is a chunnin now, almost bearing towards jounin. He already has the ability of a jounin, but he lacks experience. Now Jiraya-sama, as to Akatsuki, it's all up to him." – Said Kakashi as he lifted from the table, leaving Jiraya alone thinking.

Jiraya knew that Naruto's abilities improved after seeing his chunnin exams, but the fact remained that Akatsuki could very well trap him and capture him if he isn't careful. However what Kakashi told about Naruto being underestimated, felt like a ton of bricks to the old sannin. He realized that if he considered training him rather than keeping him safe for two and a half years, Naruto's level could be far greater. _Oh Minato, what have I done to your son?_

* * *

**--With Naruto--**

After Naruto dropped Aoi at the apartment complex, he went straight towards one training ground. Feeling the need of practicing some kenjutsu, he figured that he could practice some katas. As he arrived at the training ground, he saw that it was empty. Quickly unleashing his katana and a little warming up, Naruto started doing kenjutsu katas with great fluidity, as if the sword was an extension of his body. Slashing millions of imaginary opponents with particular ease, Naruto's dance was remarkable to see. Focusing chakra through his eyes, Naruto's eyes changed to a darker blue with a blue light crossing the pupils, scaring everyone that comes in contact with it. With it, Naruto became more agile, stronger and more ruthless. His killing intent was becoming quite noticeable as he proceeded with his attacks.

Meanwhile, random shinobis were appearing because of the sudden killing intent emanated from Naruto as he was practicing with his katana, slicing, cutting, killing all the imaginary opponents that threatened to overcome him. But since Naruto activated his eyes, somehow his thrust for battle improved up to a point that Naruto could only stop after such need was satisfied. After slicing one last imaginary opponent, Naruto threw his sword up as he began to make hand seals, screaming with a voice that could rival Kyuubi's. **Fuuton Chakra Daitoppa (**Wind Style: Enhanced Breakthrough Jutsu). With that, a huge gust of wind was formed and yanked a few dozen trees along with it.

Feeling satisfied, Naruto turned around to leave when he saw some of the people he knew. Kakashi was looking at him, with his hands holding a kunai, getting ready to attack if necessary. Tsunade and Jiraya were trembling from the sight of such destruction coming from the one whom they thought was the most kind and gentle person ever to exist. Anko was almost on the verge of killing herself after such killing intent from Naruto. All of them were looking at Naruto's new eyes, while trembling with fear at not only the menacing looks of a murderer, but the killing intent alone was tough to bear.

Naruto for his part was wondering why all of them were scared of him. Anko was the only one who had the courage to step and confront the now changed Naruto. "N…Naruto-kun, please stop with what you're doing. Your eyes aren't your real ones. Please change them to your regular beautiful eyes. Please" – Pledged Anko to which Naruto was taken aback and realized that he did activated his new eyes and sighed, since he felt the need of telling everyone present the truth about his eyes. "Anko-chan, everyone. Please don't feel like that about me." – Said Naruto as he deactivated his eyes and his now ocean blue eyes appeared. Seeing their shoulders relaxing, Naruto continued with the story. "A couple of months ago, as I was training my kenjutsu, I unknowingly was focusing chakra through ever part of my body, therefore, making my stance more agile, more fierce, more brutal. For a while, though, I was losing control of myself and also somehow having more need to battle some opponent. I…I was training near a lake so when I got to see my reflection, my eyes were the same as you now witnessed. And before any of you who may or may not jump to conclusions, this has nothing to do with any possible influences the Kyuubi may have on me. This is all me." – Said Naruto, before seeing all of them looking at him quizzically to which he sighed, since he knew would be tough explaining to the ones he cared about to watch out for him when in such a state. "Also I wanted to clarify that I only activate this state when there is absolutely no other way of winning or even coming out alive. But hey, between this and resorting to the fox's power, at least this way it's all me." – Said Naruto, although frightening everyone around even more and Tsunade made sure to put sense into his head. "That makes it worse Naruto. With the Kyuubi, we kind of figured out your behavior would be, now with you activate your eyes, you become unpredictable, therefore unreliable while on a mission. As of this moment, in no circumstances you are to use this eyes of yours, unless is life or death situation. Also, I'm not sure if your eye technique is a doujutsu or not, but right now I'm issuing such a jutsu, a kinjutsu. Now, tell me gaki, what name do you want to give it?" – Asked Tsunade, now visibly more relaxed and utterly grateful of being on Naruto's side of the battle. She heard about Orochimaru's Kanashibari, but Naruto's new technique was able to send chills up her spine as well as the other ones around at the same time.

"I never thought of giving it a name, but since you asked, I'm naming **Kyoushu gyoushi** (assassin stare**)**" – Said Naruto, earning nods from the other present since such a name fitted like a glove to what they felt after crossing their eyes with Naruto's. At the name, they were some different reactions concerning the crowd. Tsunade smiled at Naruto's creativity and accurate description of the technique. Kakashi was thinking more in terms of watching his back now that his student could turn psychotic even without relying on the Kyuubi's power. Jiraya shrugged it off, vanishing to go to his research. Anko on the other hand suddenly was filled with a even more ferocious Naruto and now her hormones were kicking madly once again, making her lick her lips uncontrollably which gladly only Naruto saw it who knew exactly what his horny and pleasurable girlfriend.

"Okay Naruto, as of right now the **Kyoushu gyoushi** (assassin stare**) **is labeled as a kinjutsu and never is to be used unless it's absolutely necessary. Also, if you were to use it, try to advert looking at Konoha nins, try to divert them towards the enemy." – Said Tsunade to which Naruto nodded and smiled towards the blonde hokage, who was now remembering about the big secret they were supposed to tell Naruto about and if such eyes suddenly appeared because of it. "Jiraya, come to my office ASAP, I need to speak to you for a moment, come." – Said Tsunade to which Jiraya wined something about losing some research opportunity, making Tsunade angry while grabbing him through his ear and dragging him towards the office, leaving Naruto, Kakashi and Anko at the training ground.

Feeling the need to address Naruto, Kakashi turned to speak to the blonde. "Naruto, I want to tell you something. It's about your eyes." – Said Kakashi to which Naruto sighed and turned to present a response to the lazy jounin. "Sure…What about it?" - Asked Naruto though he was nervous as to what Kakashi appeared to be so concerned about. "Naruto, I…I won't lie to you. I feel threatened by you. When I saw your eyes, I could actually see you killing me with your katana. I've already seen lots of killing intent auras in my life but never before I felt like this. I'm sorry, but I can't be around you at the moment." – Said Kakashi, earning surprised looks from Anko but surprisingly not from Naruto, whose look was more directed to disappointment. "Kakashi, how can you say something like that…" – Shouted Anko but was interrupted with Naruto's voice which happened to be cold and uncaring. "Kakashi-_san, _I understand if you don't want to be around with me, but what I don't like and certain wasn't expecting to see from you, was the way you looked at me now. The way you looked at me is the same way everyone looked at me who thought I was the fox reincarnated. I expected this from them, but from you, I can tell you with most certainty that if what you said about my technique is true, then what you did already manage to kill me." – Said Naruto, whispering the last part so that only Kakashi and Anko heard and then vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a shocked Anko and a completely lost Kakashi.

"Naruto, wait!" – Screamed Anko but to no avail, since he was already gone. Kakashi for his part was in turmoil right now. He remembered what Naruto did to help him get out of his trance about the past and how that he thank him, by showing the same look of hate and despair of those who thought that the demon came once again to haunt their lives. Sure, Naruto's technique was like a super enhanced version of Orochimaru's binding technique, but that didn't give him the right to give Naruto such treatment. _Damn it, I'm a fucking elite jounin for cry out loud, so why would I feel threatened by an ally's technique. Man, how could I be so stupid? I have to find him and apologize. Maybe there's still time, but those eyes of his…I mean, how could he emanate so much killing intent without the fox's aid…it makes me wonder if both Kyuubi's and Naruto's killing intent merged. They could kill jounins just by looking at them. Just like…Just like….._

Meanwhile, Anko was figuring how to tor…teach the silver haired jounin a lesson from causing Naruto more grieve that he already had through his life. Anko felt disgusted by Kakashi's treason and felt even more disgusted since Kakashi was to Naruto like Kurenai was to her and to think that she could do this after seeing how much hate Anko had to endure after Orochimaru's betrayal, therefore she could sympathize with her boyfriend in more ways than anyone at the moment. "Damn it, Kakashi. How could you do this? How could you?" – Screamed Anko though she could see regret in Kakashi's face as he was looking down ashamed. "Anko, I…I need to talk to him. I need to apologize to him, but I don't know if I can face him again. Every time I look at him now, I think about those eyes and it' unnerving me to my very soul." – Said Kakashi, while images of Naruto's eyes looking at him with such killing intent that Kakashi found it difficult to bear.

Anko for her part was wondering about what Kakashi said and the truth was that while Naruto's technique was indeed threatening, it wasn't unbreakable. And for an elite jounin to lose his mind like that, made her wonder if Kakashi suffered some trauma or something. "Kakashi, when you remember his eyes, you imagine Naruto looking at you or someone else?" – Asked Anko to which Kakashi simply responded, confirming that it was Naruto's eyes. "Of course, it's Naruto's eyes your twerp. I'm asking about his tenant. When you see Naruto's eyes, do you see Naruto or do you see Kyuubi?" – Asked Anko, making Kakashi go wide-eyed as he remembered that faithful night sixteen years ago. "It…It was the fox. Definitely it was the Kyuubi. I remember now Anko. I was ordered to help holding the beast until Minato-sensei did the Fuuinjutsu needed to seal the beast. But seconds before sensei managed to seal the beast, it looked directly through my eyes. That was the moment I almost snapped. They said that anyone who came in eye contact with the Kyuubi, instantly preferred death. I was sent to a temporary comma for two weeks after it, therefore the episode was barred inside my mind until now. Kami-sama, I right now compared Naruto to Kyuubi. Anko-san I need to find him." – Said Kakashi to which Anko smiled sadly while using some words. "Of course you did. If it's one thing that Naruto know is how people used to look at him. Now that you came through your senses, I believe that he is on top of his father's head on the Hokage monument." – Said Anko before seeing Kakashi vanish and sigh wishing that her boyfriend could eventually find happiness and peace in life.

* * *

**--At Hokage's office--**

Meanwhile, Tsunade and Jiraya were having a conversation about Naruto's new ability and quite frankly, Tsunade was afraid of telling him the news just for the eyes to appear again. Jiraya for his part was caught wondering about it for a second, when suddenly he remembered Kakashi's words but underestimating Naruto and the price someone pays for doing that. He figured, then, that Naruto needed to know the truth and keeping it hidden from him, would only aggravate even more the situation. "Tsunade, we need to tell him. It's his right to know." – Said Jiraya, earning screamed phrases from Tsunade, involving 'are you crazy' and 'how much sake did you drink today'. "Did you not see those eyes of his, you pervert. You look me in the eyes and tell me that you weren't close to piss yourself" – Whispered Tsunade, though Jiraya wouldn't hear.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of him, Tsunade. The boy saved this village countless of times. He sees you like family and yet you say that you're afraid of him. Now it my turn to ask Tsunade, how much sake did you drink. Naruto's technique could very well be our triumph against our most dangerous enemies and here you are worried that he would flash his eyes again, for all I know I think he deserves a nickname so that people come to fear him just like his assassin technique. But regarding his heritage, we must tell him. If I'm right, he won't be mad at the Yondaime from doing this to him. Naruto can be anything but unfair to certain situations. Call him and Kakashi. He must be present to hear this as well." – Said Jiraya, displaying a serious visage, therefore raising Tsunade's self esteem even if a little bit. "Pull yourself together and trust the kid's will. He would never raise a finger against us even if Kyuubi took full possession of his body. Now call him or I will."

"Shizune, call Naruto and Kakashi right now." – Screamed Tsunade to which Jiraya smiled and nodded, but Tsunade wanted some assurance. "Are you sure you want to do this? What if…" – Said Tsunade, but was interrupted by Jiraya who started teasing her. "Don't tell me, one of the legendary sannin is scared of a chunnin. That wouldn't fit well with your position as hokage, now wouldn't it?" – Said Jiraya to which Tsunade looked away, so not to punch Jiraya's face from such insinuation, also hiding the fact that she was indeed scared of him.

* * *

**--With Naruto--**

True to Anko's idea, Naruto was on top of the Yondaime's head. He didn't know why, but such a place brought him more peace than anywhere within Konoha territory. Naruto was sad that Kakashi thought of Naruto as being the Kyuubi reincarnated. Normally, such look didn't unnerve him in the slightest, but when it came from someone Naruto hold high regards, it broke his heart to pieces. Kakashi was like an older brother to him and to see such person afraid of him it literally felt worse than being pierced by Sasuke's chidori.

As he looked towards the horizon that happen to engulf the entire village and the sun which was settling down right now, Naruto could do nothing but wish for recognition all over again. But for some reason, Naruto felt completely at piece with himself, something that he found particularly strange. All of a sudden, a hand touched his shoulder, but Naruto didn't turned, knowing deep down who was behind him. "What are you doing here?" – Asked Naruto to which Kakashi sighed and sit next to him. "Naruto, I came here to apologize from what I've done to you. When I saw your eyes, I remembered an event way back when Kyuubi attacked." – Said Kakashi as he gave the whole history to Naruto about him crossing eyes with the monster, making Naruto close his eyes. "Kakashi, for some reason, it seems that I can't stay mad at you. I don't know but there is something about this place that put me at ease with myself. I don't know what it is, but every time I was sad, I came here and from out of nothing, I felt piece." – Said Naruto to which Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. _Naruto, of course you're at piece here. You are on top of your father's head._

As Kakashi was about to address the boy, a chunnin came and told them that Tsunade-sama needed to speak to both of them. After acknowledging the order, Naruto and Kakashi shunshined to appear inside Tsunade's office.

* * *

**--Inside Tsunade's office--**

When Naruto and Kakashi transported inside Tsunade's office, Jiraya and Tsunade were facing them quite seriously. Seeing that now was no use turning back, Tsunade started. "Naruto, I called you here in order to give you important information. You see, the Yondaime Hokage risked his life to seal the Kyuubi no kitsune away, therefore, protecting the village. Also, as you know, he sacrificed your life, since he ended up sealing the beast inside of you. Are you with me so far?" – Asked Tsunade, though she was now entering dangerous territory and the only way out was to continue further. "Tsunade-sama, why are you telling me this?" – Asked Naruto though he managed to see the people in the room lower their heads in shame which to Naruto could only mean that the answer wouldn't be nice to hear. "Naruto, did you ever wonder why the Yondaime chose you to bear such a burden?" – Asked Jiraya, deciding to continue for Tsunade.

"Only the fact that I was just born, I don't see what other reason I was picked, but again why are you telling me this?" – Asked Naruto, while somehow feeling the need to squeeze his hands tighter, almost to the point of making blood pour out of it. "You see Naruto, the Yondaime Hokage picked you not only because you're born exactly the time when the Kyuubi attacked, but also because he couldn't ask any other parent to hand their child. So…" – Said Jiraya, but stopped when he felt Naruto's killing intent aura was rising exponentially and the fact that his eyes were closed was not a very good signal. Suddenly, with a voice peculiar to the kitsune, Naruto opened his eyes, revealing the **Kyoushu gyoushi** (assassin stare**) **and said. "**Are you telling me that all this time you all knew about who were my parents and never told me?**" – Screamed Naruto with much fury, surprising the people present in the room who thought he was mad at the Yondaime from doing this to him in the first place. Neither would've thought that the only thing Naruto needed to know was who his parents were. **"I grew up without ever knowing if my parents abandoned me or anything. Every time, someone looked at me with fear, I wondered if my parents had that same look, hence why they would leave me to fetch for myself."** – Said Naruto, now as sparkling tears fell freely from both of his eyes. "**Why didn't anyone told me about this? Do any of you know what it means to grow up alone, never knowing what happened to my parents?"** – Screamed Naruto, now releasing the very same sad aura that he released back at the memorial stone.

Meanwhile, Jiraya Tsunade and Kakashi were sobbing at seeing and feeling Naruto's suffering as he grew up. None of them could be prepared to know that all Naruto wanted to know was that his parents didn't abandon him. Suddenly, a kick was heard and Tsunade's door was sent flying towards the nearby window. Anko, having been near the vicinity, immediately felt Naruto's aura and ran towards her lover to comfort him. As she saw him convulsing on the ground, while sobbing, she felt like her heart was going to explode.

Feeling the need of embracing Naruto, Anko enveloped her arms around him, whispering relaxing phrases close to his ear and crying together with him, since she knew quite well what news was brought up. After some time, Naruto calmed down and returned the hug from the one person who would always be there for him. "Anko-chan, I appreciated what you did to me. I know you'll always be there for me, just as I'm always there for you. I love you Anko." – Said Naruto, making Anko's hear somehow explode with happiness. She knew she liked Naruto, but to hear such words from him was more than what she needed to be wanted by someone yet again, being that a feeling that she thought was lost forever. For a minute or two, the couple just hugged each other, savoring the moment like it was their last moment together. As Anko broke the hug, she whispered closely through his ear so only he could hear. "I love you too Naruto."

As the couple got up, Tsunade expressed not only from her, but also her predecessor's apology and told him that his parents didn't abandon him. "Naruto, your father Namikaze Minato was dead because of the Shiki Fuin and your mother Uzumaki Kushina was killed after delivering you. This is the letter that your parents wrote for you." – Said Tsunade as she delivered the scroll to Naruto.

_Naruto, in case you're reading this, than it means I'm no longer alive. Right now, I'm out to fight the bijuu named Kyuubi no Yoko who right now is threatening the well-being of the village I swore to protect with my life. __I can't tell you how much my heart is hurting right now, since not only your mother Uzumaki Kushina died from labor complications, but also the procedure needed for the bijuu extraction involved a sacrifice…my life and yours in a way. When the procedure is done, I asked my predecessor Sandaime Hokage to take care of you since your mother and I won't be around to see you grow into a fine young man. Please Naruto, just know that this was the last possible alternative in order to beat the wild beast, otherwise it would destroy all that we came to build within our hearts, while using the will of fire. _

_And in case you're wondering what the will of fire means, feel free to ask Sarutobi about it, since he was the sole inventor of such term. He would tell you exactly how to protect our family that is Konoha and its inhabitants. Naruto, in case you're wondering why anyone told you about us until this very moment was because your father made a lot of enemies during the last shinobi war and thus by revealing your identity as my son, Iwa and Kumo would seek vengeance because of what I done. _

_Also, along with this letter, came two scrolls. One contains the keys to our house and its directions. The other one contains my two prized techniques being the rasengan and the hiraishin along with my notes regarding each one of them. Please use it as means to protect this village that I came to love. Also, in time, find yourself someone for you to spend your whole life together, so to start a family. By raising your family, you'll be fulfilling my last dream that was to raise and guide the next Namikaze generation together with my wife…your mother. _

_Please be safe Naruto-kun and wherever you are, always remember that your mother and I will always be with you._

_Namikaze Minato_

As Naruto read it, the few tears that lasted fell, however a deep smile adjourned through his features, showing that Naruto understood completely what his father wanted for him to do. Meanwhile, Anko finished reading the letter and looked at her lover, while inside hoping that she would be the one to be with Naruto for the rest of his life. She knew that the future hold great things for them and she felt secured that she could help Naruto rebuild his clan the way it was supposed to be.

After, Naruto locked his now ocean blue eyes with Anko's, telling her all that she needed to know. '_Anko-chan, you and me together' – Thought Naruto. 'Of course Naruto-kun, we're together' – Thought Anko, though answering Naruto's answer almost if they understood each other. _


	11. Long Lasting memories

**Chapter 11 – ****Long lasting memories**

After the news and Anko's comfort, Naruto got up while however not even looking at the faces of those present. Even though he was slowly digesting the new information, he was still disappointed at those who didn't think he was ready to know of his parents yet. Locking eyes with Anko again, he smiled upon seeing that she was giving that same old smile that filled his heart with joy and peace. However, his thoughts were interrupted when Tsunade popped the question. "Naruto, are you alright? Talk to us." – Said the Hokage, clearly concerned and suspecting that maybe she was the person to blame for not telling Naruto about his parents.

Naruto for his part managed to see the worried look on her face and knew what the old hag was thinking. Even though he did blame her for not telling him, he wasn't blind to the fact that Kakashi, Jiraya and the Sandaime were closer than Tsunade to his parents and yet didn't even bother to tell him their names. "Tsunade-sama, I could say I'm okay, but I'd be lying. Even though I'm no longer sad about what happened, does not mean I'm not disappointed. Not only had you Tsunade-sama, but also Jiraya and Kakashi-sensei held this information from me. Also the fact the last two held stronger relationships with my parents hurts even more. This only proves that people tend to underestimate me at everything." – Said Naruto to which everyone in the room looked down in response.

None of those present except for Anko, was at loss of what to say right now. Kakashi already knew that Naruto would say that and he also knew Naruto was right. Back at the time of his genin exam, all jounins doubted he would even pass the exams, let along survive until now. Also he was glad to be the one who spread the news of his newest accomplishments as a chunnin to those who thought little of him back then. _Naruto, you grew up against everyone's wishes and expectations and now you managed to change everyone's perception over you. I'm just saddened that I couldn't help you earlier. _

Tsunade and Jiraya considered Naruto more as a treasure to be protected, than an actual shinobi of Konohagakure and to say that they were taken aback by the realization was an understatement. Jiraya was still beating himself up from not even bothering to teach Naruto properly in ninja arts, while instead focusing on wasting three years trying to control the power of the nine-tailed demon, only to realize that in the end that Naruto could only use one of the demon's tails before losing control of his free will. _'Man, I've messed up'_ – Concluded Jiraya. Now, Tsunade's thoughts were more focused on her consideration of Naruto as family than nothing else. It was undeniable that Tsunade considered him as a little brother, but now she knew that the Naruto she met a long time ago was long gone and that another one appeared. However, she missed the little brat that used to scream all the time and call her 'baachan' and to think that he wouldn't call her that way again. No one was able to notice, but every time Naruto address her as 'Hokage-sama' or 'Tsunade-sama, she flinched in worry for the blonde. _'Naruto-kun I thought you'd be like Nawaki, but after seeing the man you become, I don't see you as my little brother anymore. Now I don't know if I'm happy that you finally grew up or sad since I won't get to hear complains and lack of respect remarks anymore' _– Thought Tsunade.

Naruto for his part was counting the seconds to leave the office and go look for his father's house and the silence only proved that the people present were in deep thoughts over the harsh words he said to them. He didn't regret any of the words and he knew that they should be hearing this and stop thinking that he was a little kid which was unable to defend himself. "Since this conversation ended a long time ago, there is no reason for me to stay any longer than I have to" – Said Naruto, but no reply was given, since the Hokage was still looking down and Naruto could see a lonely tear dropping from the blonde sannin's eyes. Seeing that he wouldn't get an express authorization, he turned and left together with Anko since she wasn't even called in the first place, leaving Kakashi, Jiraya and Tsunade, who was now in tears. "Jiraya, Kakashi" – Said Tsunade, barely holding herself anymore to which the two turned to hear what the Hokage wanted and a little surprised from seeing their Hokage burst in tears like that. "What did you two to my little brother? Where is he? He can't be the Naruto we all came to know and love? This one doesn't even see me other than his hokage." – Sobbed Tsunade, when Shizune entered the room and wondered why her friend was crying. "What is the matter, Hokage-sama?" – Asked Shizune to which Tsunade looked at her with teary eyes and tried to open her mouth but no words would come out. It seemed that Naruto's words made her world fall down again and suddenly she was now the same woman that was found in Otafuku Gai by a perverted sannin and a supposedly obnoxious brat who couldn't stop annoying her.

Seeing Shizune's confused face, Jiraya chose to explain. "We told Naruto of his parents and he didn't take it well. He said he was disappointed at all of us from not believing he was capable of knowing of his heritage. After he left, Tsunade began to cry because she realized that the Naruto that she came to know no longer exists" – Said Jiraya to which Shizune sighed and looked at the now brooding Tsunade and instantly became furious. "Tsunade, please look at me. **LOOK AT ME RIGHT NOW**" **– **Shouted Shizune, gaining the blonde's attention. "Answer me this question, what would you do if you were in Naruto's place, huh? How can you be so selfish as to not want him to grow up so that you could always treat him like Nawaki? He speaks the truth, you know. Everyone in this village underestimated him; whether by not believing he would reach this far or whether he would still be among us in case Akatsuki managed to catch him." – Said Shizune but no reply was present, since Tsunade still looked down and the other two chose not to say anything.

Tsunade, however, was deep in thoughts right now. "C…could you please leave me be for a while? I need some time to adjust to this." – Said Tsunade to which the three people nodded and disappeared, leaving Tsunade which was now looking at the village to which she sworn to Naruto that she would take care of. Now, she thought that Naruto abandoned her and she was all alone yet again.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

As he walked towards the direction of his father's house, Naruto was looking at the people who passed by him and Anko, only to see that the majority still had that particular look on their faces that expressed their deep hate for what happened sixteen years ago. Upon witnessing them albeit with little to no emotion, since he was used to it, he knew that once words hit the streets that he was the Forth Hokage's son, people would change their faces and start treating him like he was some kind of royalty, just like they treated Sasuke after the Uchiha massacre. However, Naruto did little to show sympathy for Konoha's population for the idea of everyone using him as a scapegoat for what Kyuubi caused to them. _'I have tried to swallow their ignorance for far too long. Let them think ill of me, it's their problem, not mine.'_

Naruto also concluded that he wouldn't use his father's name until he was sure that no one would bluntly treat him better because of it. Looking at Anko, he also knew that she was aware that she knew of his parents before he did. But he didn't blame her simply because it was only recently that she appeared in his life as his girlfriend, therefore shouldn't he held responsible for this. He also knew that he would have her consent regarding the way Konoha's population would start treating him once they find out.

Anko for her part was watching her boyfriend with attention and a little worried. It didn't take an expert to see that Naruto was in deep thinking about what happened at the Hokage's office. "Naruto, I don't mean to be a bitch here, but where are we going?" – Asked Anko not even sure if she was supposed to interrupt the blonde with his mourning for his parents, but patience was something she lacked of, on certain occasions and certainly this one was one of those. Naruto for his part looked at her and smiled. "The one place in Konoha I didn't know about. The one place to which belonged to my parents, before they died." – Said Naruto with certain determination to which Anko couldn't help but understand his anxiety, since inside the house, it could have memories registered by photographs, letters, things he could remember his father by.

So they walked the way on relative silence, although no one breaking the smile and eagerness to know what's inside the Namikaze Residence. On the way, Anko thought of asking Naruto something, but was having second thoughts, since it would involve some personal issues and maybe he wasn't ready to answer it as of yet. However, she now knew what her boyfriend despised above anything and that was underestimation of someone's abilities, without justification. "Foxy, tell me something. After we visit your parent's house, will you be moving in?" – Asked Anko, just displaying her curiosity to which Naruto thought for a while. "No. Well, not yet anyway. This house belonged to the Konoha's Forth Hokage, if people were to know about the fact that I was his son, everyone would start treating me differently just because of who my father was. I will only move when people stops treating me as such" – Said Naruto to which Anko nodded in recognition, since she also knew that once the news of his parents goes public, everyone would reverence him like it was the Forth himself.

"Also, I don't intend to change my name yet." – Said Naruto, now making Anko look surprised and a little taken aback by it. "Why not; he was your father after all" – Scowled Anko, wondering if Naruto was somehow mad with the Yondaime for practically being the precursor of Naruto's miserable life growing up. "Yes, he was my father. However, as Tsunade-sama and Jiraya-sensei said, not only Iwa but also Kumo wouldn't be satisfied with knowing that a relative of the man responsible of many deaths among their shinobis at the Third Great Shinobi War. Being that as it may, they would claim war on us or even claim my head instead of the Yondaime's, my father." – Said Naruto to which Anko smiled and nodded. "Now that you mentioned it, in fact Iwa is still resentful of your father from his **Hiraishin **and **Rasengan** techniques and Kumo as well, since it was aligned with Iwa on the war". – Said Anko.

"Other than that, I'm not at least worried that Iwa and Kumo would like to hunt me down. I'm not saying that I'm stronger than any of them, but I'm stronger now than I've been all my life and I'm pretty sure I can take what they throw at me, just don't involve the village and my precious people, so I'm satisfied. They will insert my photo on the bingo book as a C ranked shinobi just to gauge my skills and then move up to B ranked. What do you say, Anko-chan. Which level do you think I am right now?" – Asked Naruto to which Anko decided to mock the blonde chunnin. "Well, I would say C ranked, I don't think you can defeat a jounin and I'm listed as a A ranked one. Do you think you could top me in a fight?" – Asked Anko now using a seductive tone to which Naruto caught instantly since he knew his girlfriend and also knew that first Anko would openly mock the guy and then when the guy last expected, she would turn to be seductive. "Well, if you want to stay below me this time, I don't mind, Anko-chan. Although I'm quite sure you prefer to be on top as if our last 'interaction' was any indication" – Whispered Naruto that last part to Anko, making her smile deviously at him and start imagining dirty stuff to do with him once they spotted somewhere private.

**---At the Namikaze Residence--- **

When Naruto and Anko arrived, they were flabbergasted at the size of the house, however both of them imagined that living in a tiny place such as theirs did cause that reaction. The house itself was quite pretty with two floors and a couple of windows facing the street. When they approached the front door, they found that the door didn't have any visual locks, which could only mean that Naruto's father devised a little secret opening. "Well, from what I came to know about the Yondaime was that he was a master of seals, maybe there is a seal near here in order to open the door." – Said Anko to which Naruto nodded and began to search the door only to find a little kanji seal practically glued next to the door. "Here it is" – Pointed Naruto, making Anko look at the seal and recognize it instantly. "It is a blood seal. Quite ingenious of your father, Naruto; although someone could easily enter this place if somehow he or she could get a hold of Minato's blood" – Said Anko to which Naruto nodded in agreement. Next, he figured that since the man was his father, than his blood work as well. So, he dropped some of his and the seal glowed for a second and then they heard the noise of a door unlocking.

Smiling at his girlfriend, they entered the house, however they were beaten by the sudden air that entered the house and filled the place to which the couple figured that the house was locked for a long time. Quickly, Naruto, as he saw some windows in front of him, summoned some kage bunshins, so to open all the windows and let the sunlight in as well. However, none of the two were prepared when the sunlight entered the house and filled the entire living room with warmth and peace. As the bunshins were dispelled, Naruto was walking through the living room when his eyes landed at a picture of what seemed like a blonde grownup wearing a jounin vest and the Hokage robe on top of it and an amazingly beautiful red-head woman and from Naruto's point of view, he could plainly see that the woman was pregnant.

As he closed to see the picture, his heart suddenly filled with warmth and instantly he knew who these people were. A second later, tears fell freely, but those were not tears of sadness, but instead tears of joy at finally meeting his parents. Anko, after seeing her boyfriend's tears while holding a photo, went towards him in order to see what he was looking at. When she approached, realization dwelled upon her as she saw a photo of the Yondaime next to a pregnant Uzumaki Kushina. However, all her preparation as a fierce kunoichi could even prepare her to hear Naruto whispering while crying. "This is my first and last photo with my parents" – Said Naruto before he listened the sound of a single tear that happened to reverberate the entire house as Anko cried for the first time in god knows how long. Even though her life was a living hell thanks to Orochimaru, it only began after he took her as his apprentice. Before that, her life was pretty great. Contrary to Naruto, Anko wasn't born an orphan, so she had parents that looked after her and cared for her.

Now seeing Naruto hold this photo, it saddened her greatly that the only photo that Naruto took together with his parents was when he wasn't even born. However, when she looked at his eyes, albeit still crying, was surprised to see that he wasn't sad, quite on the contrary…he was happy and she now understood why. Even though he knew his parent's names, he until this moment, had never seen their faces. "You mother was very beautiful, Naruto-kun." – Said Anko to which Naruto nodded in agreement and closed his eyes picturing him playing around with his mother at the garden while his father would watch with a happy and peaceful smile. "She was very pretty indeed and now their faces will be forever in my mind smiling at me from above. _I'll carry on their wish and continue the Namikaze generations._" – Thought Naruto as Anko looked at him with a smile on her face. _'Anko-chan, it's clear in my head that we're perfect for each other, however I wouldn't dream of imposing this on you. When the time comes, I will ask you to marry me' _– Thought Naruto as he went forward and kissed the woman of his dreams madly.

Anko for her part was caught by surprise; nonetheless she let it slide in favor of the idea of making out with her boyfriend, which happens to raise her inside temperature quite a bit, because of Naruto's fierce kiss. After they stopped the kiss, they looked at each other, with similar thoughts running through their minds. It was safe to say that both of them would look really tired after it.

**---With Jiraya and Tsunade---**

After the news to Naruto, Tsunade and Jiraya decided to take a walk in order to clear their heads a little. What Naruto told them, seriously got into their heads and realization dwelled on them that maybe they ended up hindering his growth. Tsunade from thinking that perhaps treating him like her brother Nawaki ended up thinking that he could get away of trouble easily. Jiraya for his part was still mumbling about the possibility of seeing Naruto become a ninjutsu specialist if he only had realized that maybe training Naruto as a shinobi, other than a jinchuuriki. Jiraya was amazed by the boy's growth in almost one year practically on his own and wondered how much stronger he could've become under Jiraya's wing. Although Jiraya wasn't a kenjutsu user, he could teach the boy the basics, earning him by now a jounin's ability in the arts, instead maximum high chunnin kenjutsu capacity.

"Jiraya, both of us represents what's left to the Sannin, since Orochimaru has gone rogue on us. How could we underestimate him? How could we underestimate anyone for that manner?" – Asked Tsunade not sure of what to do now. "I don't know Tsunade, I feel just as bad as you are. Just imagine in which level the boy would be in now, had I trained him for real." – Said Jiraya to which Tsunade looked at him wondering what he was talking about, since even though he didn't taught much, Naruto's skills improved when he came back, hence what they saw his abilities on his fight against Kakashi with Sakura. "Don't be like this, Jiraya. After all, he improved his stance and knowledge when he came back. It's just that his face and resolve reminds me so much of them, that I'm still afraid of sending him on A and S ranked missions, no matter how strong he is right now. I guess in a way no one knew he would get very far in the end, I'm afraid. He was fought against the odds and somehow emerged victorious. I bet everyone in here thought of him as lucky to fight people like Momochi Zabuza, Orochimaru, Akatsuki and still be able to survive" – Said Tsunade, making Jiraya shiver since he was the one amongst these people.

It wasn't that he found Naruto to be weak, it was the fact that his enemies were only composed of S ranked shinobis, foes that even the sannin couldn't hope to win against. He thought that eventually Itachi would trick him and Kisame would be the one to capture him while he was distracted. He also thought that his blind resolve of returning Sasuke would be his doom, because of who was the Uchiha's sensei. However, now Naruto was stronger and although Naruto wasn't even on par with a jounin, he was sure that in no time no one would be able to stop him in an all-in fight. "Although some of his skills were improved, like taijutsu and genjutsu reconnaissance, Naruto's ninjutsu didn't. For cry's sake, Tsunade, when we returned, the only jutsus Naruto used were the Kage Bunshin, Kuchiyose and Rasengan. But now, he can use up to three ninjutsu elements and even managed to do what Minato and I could not. He mixed the rasengan with fuuton ninjutsu, which was already considered as an A ranked technique with only shape manipulation. Only kami knows what that boy is creating right now. It could very well be the next step of his elemental rasengan." – Said Jiraya to which Tsunade looked at him in wonder, since the last time she saw Naruto's jutsu, she thought that the jutsu was finally completed.

"What do you mean, Jiraya? His **Fuuton Rasengan **was a completed jutsu, wasn't it?" – Asked Tsunade, making Jiraya close his eyes in wonderings. "No, Tsunade. Although the **Fuuton Rasengan **is indeed powerful, I know that he could increase its power. When I saw him using it, they were moments when the blades around the rasengan were growing in size, but then Naruto stopped and the blades receded to their small size. It wouldn't come as a surprise to me if the final version of his fuuton ninjutsu be labeled 'S-ranked'. From the damage the jutsu caused on the enemy's body, not only he shoved the energy ball at him but also it slashed the enemy's clothes like nothing. Now imagine those blades growing in size and speed, about the same size of a **fuuma shuriken**. Now, imagine these same old blades slicing every inch of the enemy's body into nothing." – Said Jiraya to which Tsunade widened her eyes upon imagining such jutsu. "Stop it. Fuuton jutsus always unnerved me, you know that. That's why I was always afraid of engaging a suna jounin." – Mumbled Tsunade so as that no one could catch their hokage afraid of fighting enemy shinobis.

"I know what you mean. I was this close of losing an arm on a mission near the wind country. Although it thrills me that Naruto didn't follow Suna's tradition." – Said Jiraya to which Tsunade nodded, knowing what the pervert meant by that. "Yes, while in Suna, fuuton jutsus were divided in people controlling gusts of wind and others using it for cutting and slashing abilities and because of the fact that Kunoichis have better chakra control the men, they were able to control the winds, while the more chakra required jutsus which resolved on slicing the cutting, were reserved for men, whose chakra capacity was higher. However Naruto has both of the fuuton abilities, giving him and edge against Suna, if needed be." – Said Tsunade, while Jiraya nodded. "Not to mention his secondary suiton affinity and his proficiency at doton ninjutsu, as well as his kenjutsu." – Smiled Jiraya to which Tsunade had a realization. She wasn't going to protect him anymore. He is a shinobi for Konohagakure and as shall, he will be treated the same way as everyone else. Consequences be damned.

* * *

**---****With Naruto---**

After his little 'adventure' with Anko, both of them left the compound with the promise of meeting again later. He figured he would go for a training ground and just slash at imaginary opponents with his katana, so as to practice some kenjutsu katas. Although since he was not in a hurry, he quietly walked towards the nearby training ground while seeing Konoha's population for any sign of spread information about his parents. Upon focusing on some faces, he was actually content to see the people's stares towards him, as thinking that he was the reason for the misery sixteen years ago. While Naruto didn't care anymore about the stares, he actually wished that people didn't stop treating him like this, when his secret became public.

It was when he was passing along a drug store when he saw a familiar face stepping out of said store. It was the ex-Iwa nin, now Konoha's citizen, just trying to get his long lasting retirement from ninja duty. Naruto knew that the man managed to buy an apartment and was now relaxing near of the training grounds near a lake. The man upon seeing Naruto, waved with a grin to which Naruto returned the greeting. "Good afternoon Aoi-san. How has Konoha been treating you these days?" – Asked Naruto to which Aoi just breathed calmly and smiled towards the blonde. "Peaceful is the only word I can describe. Actually, I was on my way to the lake, want to join me?"

"Sure, I was going to train a little bit, might as well train there, right" – Said Naruto to which Aoi suddenly felt nostalgic. "Ah training. Can't say I don't miss the rush back when I was your age. Although when we fought that day, why did you hold back, boy. I mean, not that I wasn't holding back, but I would think that you would strike me with the intent to kill." – Said Aoi to which Naruto smiled and remembered the guy's history and his choice that day, "It was not that I was holding back. I just didn't attack with physical attacks, just ninjutsu. However my mission wasn't to kill you no. I was sent to see if you'd be willing to come with us." – Said Naruto to which Aoi nodded and appreciated for doing this to him.

While they were walking peacefully, Aoi looked at the blonde and wondered why he didn't feel threatened of this boy who looked like Iwa's most terrible nightmare. Right now, looking at Naruto it was like looking at Minato, well except the whisker marks and the different vest color, he could say that both were alike. "Tell me, boy. Why do you train so hard? In my experience, I'd say that you are as strong as a jounin right now." – Asked Aoi to which Naruto looked down this time and turned to answer. "I've told you the official reason of me not attacking you Aoi-san, but I didn't tell you my personal reasons. I wanted to measure my capacity against an S ranked shinobi, simply because all my enemies are close if not higher than that level. Because of my 'condition' as I'm sure you know, there is a group of S ranked missing-nins trying to capture me and although they kind of stopped looking, doesn't mean that they won't give up trying to capture me. Therefore, I need to stay strong so not only to protect myself, but others around me as well." – Said Naruto to which Aoi sighed once again after remembering himself constantly facing powerful opponents and defeating them.

"Naruto, I can't say that I understand fully, since I'm not like you. However, we can share histories about facing tough opponents, since when I was in Anbu, tough opponents appeared every day." – Began Aoi and Naruto turned to listen the old man's fights throughout his career.

**---At the Training Ground---**

Upon arrival, Naruto suddenly understood why the man always came here. The sight of the lake being illuminated by the sun like that while surrounded by trees, made him feel at peace with himself and Naruto didn't have to turn to Aoi to see that the man was already lying down below a tall tree and simply relax. Shrugging it off, Naruto summoned his katana and began to quickly slash through the air opponents. However, he wasn't only training his kenjutsu, but rather a new supplementary fuuton technique he has been wondering about. Naruto once thought about using fuuton chakra in order to propel him to different directions and by using this, he could dodge the attacks more quickly or even dash in order to surprise the opponent.

After he stopped slicing, he placed his katana over his head with the intention of making a vertical slash, slicing the opponent in half. As he charged, he focused fuuton chakra through the tenketsus localized on his back and exhaled it, propelling him forward a lot faster than normal. Aoi for his part was analyzing Naruto's katana stances and smiled at the boy's dedication towards a somewhat lost arts in the shinobi world. Aoi knew that any ninja wouldn't even think of using a katana since it was too large and heavy, therefore hindering the shinobi's agility, but when he saw Naruto moving with his katana, it was clearly to say that the sword's weight wasn't a problem for the blonde. However, when he managed to see fuuton chakra being used in order to propel the boy forward, he smiled at the useful technique. "Interesting jutsu you got there boy. What do you call it?" – Asked Aoi to which Naruto while still smiling from the technique, answered. "I just invented. It's a supplementary fuuton jutsu used for quick dashes, serving not only for attack, but for evasive maneuvers as well. I think I'll call **Fuuton Bakushin **(Wind Style: Dash Jutsu)" – Said Naruto to which Aoi smiled and vowed his opinion.

"Quite interesting, indeed; if you manage to use it on all directions, your kenjutsu style can be improved. However I quite taken aback by the creativity; first that doton jutsu you used on me and then this. I didn't picture you as a jutsu maker" – Said Aoi to which Naruto grinned. "I just began creating. So far I have some ideas concerning the areas of proficiency, Fuuton, Doton and Suiton; being fuuton and suiton my chakra affinities" – Said Naruto.

"Well, keep on with your training. Don't let this old man get in your way, then" – Said Aoi, before seeing Naruto speed towards the lake and stand on top of the water. After that, Naruto summoned ten clones, amazing Aoi because of the boy's chakra capacity, and all charging against him, while he was defending himself with the katana. However, even though Aoi was retired, his senses were still intact and being a great tracker, he could feel a person a mile away. "I don't know who you are, but spying on an old man isn't going to help you" – Said Aoi before he saw a person with spike silver hair wearing a jounin vest. "Ah, Kakashi-san how nice of you to take your time to visit" – Said Aoi making Kakashi growl at the man who happen to be the one who caused him quite a bit of trouble back on his Anbu days, resulting in the death of one of his Anbu teammates. "You have quite a nerve to simply walk in here, Aoi. Try convincing me why I should let you live for what you did to Kaido" – Growled Kakashi, releasing his killing intent, but to no avail since the man didn't even blink.

"I'm sorry about that kid, Kakashi-san. But your team got in the way of Iwa's affairs back then. You'd do the same if the situation was the opposite. Furthermore, you can't attack me since I'm now Konoha's citizen." – Said Aoi to which Kakashi dropped his killing intent and asked what the hell was this man talking. "Surprised aren't you, I know. You can thank that kid over there at the lake." – Said Aoi as he pointed over to Naruto's direction, making Kakashi sigh since he forgot he came here to spy on Naruto when he found Aoi just lying down. "Quite an interesting fellow this Naruto, don't you think? Also very creative as well, just like his father was, I'm afraid." – Said Aoi to which Kakashi flinched at the man's realization. "Don't be afraid Kakashi-san, the resemblances are infinite, the boy is Minato with a chunnin vest and whisker marks, it's undeniable"

Kakashi for his part focused on the real Naruto who was looking at his direction since he felt the man's killing intent and wondered what was wrong. Quickly shrugging it off, Naruto dismissed the clones and started making hand seals. **Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu**(Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu). After seeing the perfect execution of the jutsu, Kakashi turned to Aoi to see that the man was smiling. _Naruto, huh. Figured. No matter what he does, he ends up turning people._ "I see, now. He is indeed special." – Said Kakashi as he saw Naruto's clones attacking the real one who was practicing some kind of evasive fuuton technique.

"Back in my prime, I was always wondering what I'd do when I retired from shinobi duty and I figured that maybe picking up on an apprentice in order to pass on my style and jutsus to. However, I couldn't find someone worthy of it. After I left, that plan vanished. Now, I'm beginning to realize how ironic this situation is. Naruto is the person I've been looking for my whole life and I was thinking of training him so that he can overcome his enemies and become even stronger and faster than he already is" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi looked at the man with suspicious, until realization dwelled upon him and the word 'irony' ended up describing this situation. "Now, I know what you meant by irony. Though why him though?" – Asked Kakashi to which Aoi closed his eyes while seeing himself in Naruto's shoes.

"The boy is like me, Kakashi-san. When I was his age, all my opponents were A to S ranked shinobis and kunoichis. He told me about Orochimaru and this secret organization made of S ranked missing-nins. Also, Naruto has great potential on using a katana, something that ninja these days don't even bother anymore. You don't need your sharingan eye to see Naruto's dedication to become strong not only for himself but for others as well. That's the kind of person I was looking for in order to pass down my knowledge" – Said Aoi, making Kakashi somewhat smiled at Aoi's description. "It'll be hard, you know. Naruto has already developed his kenjutsu style"

"I didn't say I would make him learn my style. I've already seen his style and with time and proper training, he and his sword would be a force to be recognized. Also, I planned to teach some doton jutsus as well as help him master his own. Trust me Kakashi-san, when I'm done with the boy, he will definitely succeed in whatever he sets his mind to and…" – Said Aoi, but stopped when he felt very strong presence of fuuton chakra and looked towards the source, only to see Naruto going through hand seals and scream "**Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **(Wind Style: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu)" –Screamed Naruto before what appeared to be a lying tornado rushing forwards the opponent. Kakashi for his part was surprised by the technique, since he was still due to see it in action.

Naruto for his part, after the creation of the technique, focused on the ram seal and started molding chakra in order to control the direction of the tornado tunnel. As he tried to make the tornado turn, he was surprised to see that the plan did work and he could control the tornado. Back to Kakashi, he was wondering where Naruto would come up with jutsus like this and looked at Aoi whose smile was genuine in excitement over training this boy. "Naruto will need all the help he could get in order to fight Akatsuki and Orochimaru. And when the time comes, I'll be standing at his side against them, that's for sure." – Said Kakashi before turning and walking away to which Aoi smiled and turned to see the blonde soon to be apprentice.

**---With Tsunade---**

After her walk with Jiraya, which resulted in her sending him flying due to him ditching her to go do 'research', was now back on her table, doing the paperwork. When she picked up a mission request, she saw that it was from one of Fire country's villages close to Rain Country's border. The mayor of the village requests assistance with dealing with several kidnaps occurring. The request also states that one of the villagers spotted an Ame headband on one of the kidnappers, so that mean either Ame was attacking the Fire Country or missing-nins creating a fuss over things. Tsunade was disgusted by the fact that only women were kidnapped and she damn well know what their objectives were. "Shizune, call Team Gai and Naruto, I have a mission for them." – Shouted Tsunade to which Shizune acknowledged and ran to go fetch the requested shinobi.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

After Naruto managed to create the fuuton attack, he was now sitting on top of the water in deep meditation. Because of his suiton affinity, Naruto could manipulate the water around him. Now, he was meditating in order to get in touch with his second affinity. The exercise consisted on him focusing suiton chakra and slowly controlling the water flow around him, but also it serves as a good chakra control technique, since he needs to control the flow of chakra so to keep seated on top of the water. However, because of a sudden presence approaching, he opened his eyes, waiting for this person to appear. True to his senses, Neji landed in front of Naruto only to see Naruto sitting on water. "Naruto, we have a mission. Let's report to the Hokage." – Said Neji to which Naruto stood and acknowledged the order. "Right behind you, Neji" – Said Naruto, before the two vanished and headed towards the Hokage's office, leaving Aoi there to relax, kind of disappointed that he forgot to , kind of disappointed that he forgot to say the news to Naruto, but since the boy had a mission, he could always wait for his return.

**---Inside Tsunade's office---**

In nothing short of amazing, Team Gai and Naruto arrived the same time in order to report for the mission. "I have an A ranked mission for you. Couple minutes ago, I received a mission request from a village close to the border between Fire and Rain Country. It seems that have been some kidnapping occurring there and the village suspects that Ame shinobis are involved. You are to be send there for two objectives. First, reconnaissance; you need to investigate the reason behind the kidnappings and also locate the enemy's hideouts, where are they taking them and why. Second objective is teaching the kidnappers a lesson. However, make sure you stop this kidnapping to continue. Neji, you are the leader of this mission, dismissed" – Said Tsunade, before seeing all four shunshining away and Shizune entering the office.

"Tsunade-sama, tell me why did you send Naruto on this mission? He doesn't have information gathering skills" – Asked Shizune to which Tsunade closed her eyes in deep thinking. "Jiraya once told me that on their trip, they encountered some missing-nins raping women. Needless to say Naruto was disgusted by these actions. According to Jiraya, that day was when he was more afraid of the blonde than when he was possessed by the Kyuubi" – Said Tsunade, making Shizune flinch at the notion of a person causing more fear than a demon. "What happened?" – Asked Shizune.

"Jiraya didn't tell me details, but he told me that Naruto killed all 10 of them, without even thinking about it. He even slammed the rasengan on one of them and blood spilled everywhere. After that, Jiraya saw a bloody Naruto walking away and all of the women appalled and terrorized by the viciousness of the kills. This mission is the same, but I hope that Naruto can be more controlled. Now that he discovered the **Kyoushu gyoushi** (assassin stare**), **he wouldn't need to kill any of them. That eye made me want to escape and never looking back. I still wonder why he put the name though. It seemed like he wanted to be praised as a trained assassin." – Wondered Tsunade out loud to which Shizune turned to speak. "What is this technique, Tsunade-sama?"

"When Naruto focus his killing intent, his eyes transforms into one of a murderer. Just by looking at it, makes you want to escape from being killed by him. .His eye color darkens and a sharpened light blade appears crossing his pupils. I still don't know if Naruto managed to create a new doujutsu or not, but I can tell is quite deadly. I wonder when he will be able to use in on that snake or even the Akatsuki, only to see their reactions." – Said Tsunade to which Shizune started to imagine Naruto's eyes as Tsunade described and the result was instant. Inside her mind, only his eyes and eyebrows appeared but the image alone sent shivers up her spine as well. Shizune wasn't trained as a field medic-nin, so she wasn't accustomed with killing intents aura.

**---With Team Gai---**

Well on their way to their destination, Team Gai and Naruto were travelling at a considerable speed in order to arrive by this time tomorrow. On the way, Lee and Tenten were caught staring at Naruto, trying to understand what they are seeing. Both of them knew that Naruto changed his behavior somehow and upon looking at his reserved behavior, couldn't help but wonder about the sudden change of behavior. Neji for his part, even though collected on his own already noticed the difference on his last mission with Kakashi and Naruto, so he decided to keep quiet about it. But Tenten and Lee couldn't help but keep staring at them, which unnerved Naruto a little bit. "Is there something you wish to tell me?" – Asked Naruto, catching both by surprise, who at now wasn't even aware that they were openly staring at him since the mission started.

Lee for his part couldn't see the flames of youth burning inside of him, quite differently from before. Tenten was more of wanting to know the real Naruto, since the only knowledge she had of the blonde was from stories told by Neji and others. However she was confused since from what she heard about him, was completely different from what he is behaving right now. "Ano, excuse me Naruto. I was wondering about how you are reserved and collected right now, is there something wrong?" – Asked Tenten, not sure of what to make this, since she doesn't know how he would react. "Nothing wrong, Tenten-san. Why do you ask?" – Asked Naruto, now suspicious of the girl. Naruto somehow knew that Lee and Tenten would be staring at him, simply because of the way Ino behaved upon looking at him, but since he rarely spoke to Tenten, he didn't know whether she thought ill of him or not. "Nothing, it's just that from what I heard about you, I'd think that you're different." – Said Tenten to which Naruto smiled since the girl's attitude was more out of curiosity.

"Well, call that a realization on my part if you will. Over time, I realized that I needed to change if I wanted for my dream to come true. After I returned from my training trip, I made up my mind to start training hard with minimal time for resting. As to my 'loud' behavior, as I guessed you heard about, that's changed now." – Said Naruto to which Tenten smiled and nodded, being satisfied with the answers. Lee, however, chose to enter the conversation. "Yosh, Naruto-kun's fire of youth burns with intense" – Shouted Lee, with a huge smile to which Naruto turned from Tenten and looked at Lee. "Did you say something, Lee?" – Asked Naruto, earning looks of disbelief from Neji, a wide-eyed Lee and a giggling Tenten who got a little déjà-vu of two jounins having the same conversation.

After that, the group pretty much stopped talking until Neji signaled them to stop for the day. When they set their feet on the ground, each one started to gather a tent. Naruto went to fetch some water, while Neji and Lee went to pick some wood for the fire. Tenten stayed to arrange the tent. When everyone returned, Tenten did a little sequence of hand seals and exhaled a thin layer of fire in order to ignite the fire for the team. Seeing this, Naruto was impressed that along the rookies, at least another one uses elemental ninjutsu. Actually, Naruto was appalled by the fact that no one even bothered to use learn elemental ninjutsu, well except for Lee who couldn't use chakra, but the rest of them just used their family techniques and nothing else.

Thinking of something else to do, Naruto summoned his katana and started to clean the sword with a small on his face. He came to realize just what every kenjutsu user realized that eventually one grow accustomed and attached to their swords. Tenten, upon seeing the sword, smiled in delight over the prospect of another kenjutsu ser among the rookies. "Naruto-san, I didn't know you had a katana, can I see it?" – Asked Tenten to which Naruto nodded and handed the blade. "Sure, Tenten-san; here you go." – Said Naruto. After a few tests, Tenten was amazed by the blade's forging; well-balanced, albeit a little heavy but since it was a katana, she shrugged it off since katanas are much heavier than the kodashis she normally uses. "This sword is excellent, but why would you pick a katana? A ninja loses agility when using a katana." – Asked Tenten, not knowing why Naruto would choose a heavier sword. Naruto for his part smiled since some have already asked this question. "It's quite simple, Tenten-san. My style makes up for the momentary lack of speed. Also, the weight of the sword serves as training for stamina as well." – Explained Naruto.

Neji and Lee, for instance, chose to just watch the conversation, since they were also wondering about Naruto's katana. Neji, however, was trying to figure out Naruto's shinobi style of fighting, since he early thought that he was a ninjutsu specialist, but now that he showed the katana, Neji couldn't figure out any more. "Naruto, I was wondering something." – Said Neji to which Naruto turned to the pale-eyed jounin. "What is it?" – Asked Naruto.

"Early I figured that you were a ninjutsu specialist, but now you tell us that kenjutsu is one of your abilities as well. Each of us have a style that defines our way of fighting. What is yours?" – Asked Neji to which Naruto answered instantly. "Well, Neji. I have abilities in both ninja arts. As you can see with yout byakugan, I have two ninjutsu affinities and also I had studied kenjutsu under the guidance of a friend of Kakashi-sensei. Therefore, my style is using kenjutsu for close ranged and ninjutsu for mid to long-range. I would say, then, that I'm an all around ninja." – Said Naruto to which Neji scowled mentally from not believing that said shinobi even existed.

"Sorry Naruto, but I don't believe in all-around shinobi. You can't be good in everything. I for one, am a close-range fighter, therefore my weakness is against long-range types. The way you're saying is like you have no weakness at all" – Said Neji, making Naruto look at him like he was born in another world. "Wow, Neji where did that whole fate story of yours that the Hyuugas are the strongest shinobis. Or is just you that happen to acknowledge your clan's weakness" – Said Naruto, earning a little growling from the pale-eyed shinobi, however to no avail since Naruto didn't even seem to be fazed by it and continued talking. "I'm not saying I don't have weaknesses, Neji. For instance, genjutsu is one of them. I don't have the ability to sense the making of a genjutsu, the way I know how to break them is through logical thinking." – Said Naruto, making Neji relax a little bit, but was still resentful of Naruto from diminishing his clan like that. After a while, the group turned to sleep while taking turns for watching over the place.

**---The next day---**

The next day, the group packed their stuff and move out to their destination. After a few hours of travelling, they arrived at the village which seemed to be deserted somehow. Upon seeing this, Neji activated his byakugan and was relieved to see that people were inside their respective houses. Quickly signaling for the others to follow him, he searched for the mayor's house to tell them about the mission. However, when the group walked around, it appeared to be only men, children and elders inside the village, which unnerved Naruto a little bit, because of an accident that happened during his trip. Deciding to not make conclusions out of the blue, he shrugged it off, hoping that he was wrong.

After a while, they managed to find the biggest house on the village and were escorted by a servant to the town mayor. Upon arrival, the group became face to face with the town mayor who appeared to be a retired samurai because of the katana strapped on his waist. The man also wore an eye-patch and a ponytail. Neji, being the jounin leader, presented himself and his team. "Greetings Mayor-sama, we came from Konoha for assisting your village against the kidnappings. I am Hyuuga Neji and these are Tenten, Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto" – Greeted Neji to which the man started to observe and study the shinobis in front of them. Being a samurai, he didn't like shinobis, since all of them seemed to disregard strength for speed and accuracy. However, his eyes were focused on the blonde who appeared to have a katana strapped on his back. "Tell me something boy. I thought that all ninjas favored smaller blades than a katana. Why do you use one?" – Asked the samurai, clearly interested in the boy.

"If I may sir, while a katana lacks of speed, its strength compensates the situation. Also, I use this special katana here for training purposes, since its heavier than a normal katana." – Said Naruto to which the samurai nodded also satisfied with the answer. "Quite interesting, young man; now regarding the kidnappings, I believe that you are here to deal with this treat. Our village is scared because of this recent events, they refuse to get out of their homes afraid that they come again" – Said the samurai to which Neji initiated the questionnaire. "We are here to investigate and then take care of this treat if needed be. Now we have to know two things. First of all, who are their target and what do they look like?" – Asked Neji to which the samurai nodded and turned to pick a headband that was lying next to a couch.

"One of the villagers found this headband which can only mean that they are shinobi and they are targeting the woman population but for what purpose we don't know yet." – Said the samurai, while showing an Ame insignia with a straight cut, showing that they were missing-nins from the Rain Country. However, everyone turned to see the sudden killing intent leaking from Naruto in waves scaring the samurai shitless. After a while, Naruto relaxed a bit, relieving the room pressure a little bit. "I apologize for my behavior; it's just that this situation disgusts me" – Said Naruto to which the others nodded, already knowing the reason for the kidnappings, except for the samurai who wasn't accustomed to such situations.

Seeing that there was no need for prolonging the stay, we shall begin the investigation. Just one other thing, how often are they coming here?" – Asked Neji to which the samurai answered. "Once every three days, which means that they will be here in two days, since the last one occurred last night" – Said the samurai to which Neji nodded and signaled for everyone to move. Once outside, Lee and Tenten inquired Naruto about the sudden killing intent only for him to explain about the time he and Jiraya broke an entire kidnapping site, that happen to rape the kidnapped. "After I saw a little girl being raped in front of me, I…I lost control and killed every one of them. After it, even though I saved their lives, the women looked at me with fear for their lives as if I was the one who kidnapped them. The truth was that I didn't just killed them, no they were some that couldn't even be recognizable after what I've done." – Said Naruto looking down in shame from what he done.

Neji, Tenten and Lee, after hearing the story, wondered what Naruto thought that made him go berserk after the kidnappers. "When the mayor mentioned that part, I relieved what happened that day and got extremely angry not only because of the rapists but also of the way I behaved back then. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to jeopardize the mission and attack them head on. You are the leader here Neji, so I'll obey" – Said Naruto to which Neji nodded while Tenten and Lee smiled at the blonde who seemed really preoccupied.

**---Meanwhile in Konoha---**

At the dango shop, two gorgeous women were there having lunch and talk about what's new in their lives. Anko and Kurenai were considered to be the best of friends up to the fact of each one blackmailing the other constantly, well more like Anko blackmailing Kurenai because of Asuma. However, right now Kurenai had the opportunity of her lifetime, since Anko told her about Naruto, not that she didn't already know from seeing him leaving Anko's apartment one time, but she would walk away victorious today. "So, tell me Anko. How is Naruto?" – Asked Kurenai before seeing Anko blush for the first time in her life. "Stop it Kurenai-chan, I'm not telling" – Said Anko, blushing even more. Now the reason why a person like her was blushing was because Naruto was different. To Anko, Naruto was more than just a fling. After she saw him crying yesterday, her heart simply froze. Now, she was having even stronger feelings for him and Kurenai wasn't helping this situation not even a little bit.

"Come on, Anko-chan, you did this to me almost every time I went out with Asuma-kun, now what don't you tell me?" – Asked Kurenai to which Anko looked the other way and whispered. "Because….maybe…I don't know…but I think I'm in….love with him" – Whispered Anko hoping for Kurenai not to hear, but to no avail, since from the look of the red-eyed kunoichi, she heard it loud and clearly. Kurenai for her part was rediscovering her friend right now. Never once did Kurenai imagine Anko saying such a thing. All her life she scared the men around and the ones with the balls to ask her out, were sent to the hospital. And now Naruto not only manages to date her, but wins her heart as well. "Anko-chan, this is wonderful. Why didn't you tell me sooner, I'd stop with the blackmail. So, tell me about him, why do you think you're in love with the blonde enigma?" – Asked Kurenai, using that last word, since she was surprised that the blonde could in one year, not only make a name for himself inside Konoha, but also break Anko's emotional barrier.

"Well, we kind of went through the same deal and got out okay out of it; we understand each other and help each other a lot. And that body of his is a welcomed bonus, huumm" – Mumbled Anko, now remembering having Naruto's body on top of hers while having sex together, to which Kurenai actually smiled upon meeting the real Anko for the first time in her life. "This is the first time I ever see you show a genuine smile on your face, you should show that more often." – Said Kurenai to which Anko smiled once again and nodded.

"When are you meeting him again?" – Asked Kurenai before picking up one of the dango sticks and began to eat them. "I don't know, he was sent on a A-ranked mission with Team Gai yesterday. I don't know when the mission would be over, since it involves reconnaissance." – Said Anko to which Kurenai nodded and smiled at realizing that now Anko also has a boyfriend. "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we double-date. You and Naruto, me and Asuma" – Said Kurenai, but instantly regretted since the old Anko appeared and her devious smile appeared. "Huum, Kurenai-chan, I didn't realize you'd be so forward like that." – Whispered Anko to which Kurenai sighed since Anko reverted to the dark side again. "Sorry, Kurenai-chan, old habits dies hard, I guess. The double-date sounds like a great idea. I'll ask him when he returns" – Said Anko to which Kurenai smiled and nodded in appreciation.

**----Back with Naruto and the mission---**

A few hours later, Naruto and Team Gai went to gather information about the kidnappers, so as to know their whereabouts and numbers. They already know from the one who found the headband that they were missing-nins from Ame, but what he told then, unnerved Naruto a little bit. According to the man, one of them also used a long black robe with red clouds all over it, which could only mean that Akatsuki was here. Naruto didn't want to face one of them yet. Sure he was stronger now, but still he couldn't take on an S ranked shinobi all alone, so he would need the help of his team.

Neji for his part, was trying to use his byakugan so as to sense other ninja's presence, but failed miserably. Tenten and Lee were interviewing the remaining women left on the village and were able to see that the kidnapper's real objective was to use the women for rape, which disgusted Tenten a lot. Now, she understood why Naruto behaved back then. Since the group knew that the ame missing-nins would come to kidnap once again tomorrow night. Because of this, Neji thought best to watch the remaining three women in order to catch the kidnappers. Unfortunately for Naruto and Neji, the ones they were supposed to protect ended up hitting on them because of their looks to which Tenten was fuming, even though she and Neji wasn't actually together, Tenten considered herself in more than just teammates with the byakugan user. "Ah Neji-kun, Naruto-kun, we're glad that you two are taking good care of us" – Whispered the females to which Neji just twitched his lips in annoyance and Naruto just smiled at the girl's attempt of seducing him. Having already been through all paths of seduction courtesy of one purple haired Tokubetsu Jounin, Naruto wasn't even fazed by the girl whose face was only two inches apart from the blonde.

The woman named Higake was amazed the blonde's self control. Until now no men ever held his own against Higake when she was like this and the fact that the found the blonde to be hot, didn't help her situation. "I'm sorry Higake-san, but I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate you seducing me like that. She could be quite vicious, you know." – Said Naruto to which Hikage flinched at the sight of a enraged kunoichi pursuing her from trying to get his way with her boyfriend. "She must be a lucky lady, then to have someone so handsome and yet so devoted." – Said Hikage, while at the same time using her hand to caress his cheeks, when Naruto used his hand to stop her from continuing.

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to get her way with the devoted blonde, she stopped trying and showed him her back, trying to use her last Ace of spades. As she walked back, she was shaking her hips in a sexual manner, hoping to at least get a little bit out of the blonde, however when she turned to see if it her swinging was successful, only to see that the blonde was now chatting with the byakugan user. Naruto for his part was amused at the girl's attempt of seducing him, but whatever she tried, Anko did ten times better. "You're quite confident of your self control, Naruto. I'd think you'd jump on her right now." – Said Neji to which Naruto laughed. "Nah, compared to Anko-chan, this Hikage character doesn't even compare" – Said Naruto to which Neji smiled and sat down to get some sleep since it was Naruto the first one to take watch.

**---Next night---**

One day later, Neji and the gang were hiding so as to not get detected by the enemy. However, Naruto wouldn't leave the girls alone so he left two kage bunshins inside the house with them, transformed into a lamp and a door. Suddenly, Neji and Naruto felt the presences approaching and ushered the team to stand down and wait for the enemies took the bait. According to Neji, there were ten shinobis, with at least jounin in terms of skills with proved to be difficult considering that out of the team, only Neji had the abilities of a jounin, although he was sure that Naruto and Lee could take at least three of them each with Tenten backing both up.

After the missing-nins caught Hikage, the bunshins were dispelled and all the information transferred to Naruto. What he saw, was indeed one with the black robe and red clouds, but he couldn't identify him. Right now, Naruto was aware of Itachi, Kisame, Deidara and Sasori. However, Naruto figured that this guy didn't have the same power as the others. To Naruto, this guy was the equivalent of a rookie jounin at best, so he was a little relieved.

Quickly following the group, Naruto's team followed the missing-nins, with a safe enough distance so not to be spotted by them. On the way, Neji was looking at them with the byakugan and was certain that they didn't spot them yet. Once they landed in what appeared to be a camp, Naruto and everyone managed to see the girls captured and gladly the kidnappers sitting at a quite distance away, however all of them knew that the group would be starting the raping soon. "Neji-san, how many are they? I can sense ten, but I'm not sure." – Said Naruto to which Neji activated his bloodline and managed to see the enemies. "There is one more behind the group of ten. He must be their boss. His chakra coils are more advanced in comparison to the others. Naruto, Lee and Tenten, these guys are jounin level ninja, so here's what we're going to do. Naruto and Lee will separate their numbers and then Naruto and Tenten will take five while me and Lee will take on the rest. If my guess is correct, the stronger one will watch our abilities, so try taking them out without using your best abilities, and leave that to him. Lee and Naruto, you know what to do." – Said Neji before seeing Naruto and Lee smile at each other and vanish in less than a second and appeared close to the field, driving their attention.

While Lee ran in order to strike them with his **Konoha Dai Senpuu **(Leaf Great Whirlwind), Naruto quickly went through the hand seals for **Fuuton Daitoppa **(Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu). Out of nowhere, two strong gusts of wind sent each of them flying towards opposite directions, giving Neji and Tenten the signal for joining in. When Tenten arrived next to Naruto, she managed to see that Naruto was already with his katana yielded and looking fiercely at the enemies to which she smiled and summoned two kodashis off her own. "Let's see who is better, your katana or my kodashis" – Said Tenten to which Naruto smiled and nodded. "Challenge accepted" – Smiled Naruto, before both of them attacked the enemies that were with two kunais, one in each hand.

Meanwhile Neji dropped into his family stance and immediately took care of one of them sealing 64 of his tenketsus, while Lee did a roundhouse kick sending another one flying towards the wall, knocking him down and then throwing a kunai which landed on the guy's throat, killing him instantly. Back to Naruto, he summoned a dozen kage bunshins in order to escort the ladies back to the village, leaving the fighters alone. "Since you guys screwed our meals, you won't get out of this alive" – Said one of them, while making hand seals, then whispered **Suiton Daibafuku no Jutsu** (Water Style: Grand Waterfall Jutsu). After that, a huge torrent of water was sent towards the Konoha shinobi, who didn't have a choice other than evade the attack. Naruto, taking advantage of the water from the enemy's attack, made some hand seals and screamed **Suiton Mizu Taihou (**Water Style: Water Cannon Jutsu). After that, a sudden burst of water was sent towards the enemies, managing to strike both of them.

With Tenten, she managed to slice her first kill, but one was going to attack her from behin. Luckily, she caught the guy from the corner of her eye and started making hand seals. "**Katon Houka no Kaen (**Fire Style: Fire Blaze Jutsu). With that, Tenten exhaled a thin layer of fire which upon contact incinerated the man's body down to only ashes. With only four remaining, Neji and Lee managed to beat two by using their respective taijutsu stances while Naruto and Tenten managed to take the other two with Naruto slashing his sword in a vertical move and Tenten with the **Kodashi no Oudan **(Crossing kodashi technique).

The leader, upon seeing his men easily beaten by the Konoha, was now afraid for his life. "Damn fools, you're keeping me from entering Akatsuki this way. Now, I have to face Pein-sama without any worthy sacrifice" – Said the leader to which Naruto suddenly wondered. "Who is this Pein character you talk about?" – Asked Naruto to which the leader responded by laughing upon seeing the he didn't know about who Pein was. "Ku ku Ku, you don't know who Pein is. He's everything, he is our god. After he defeated Hanzou-sama, the one to whom your so called sannin couldn't even take him together and he's the leader of our organization called Akatsuki" – Said the leader, not even knowing that in front of him was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Naruto for his part was through with this annoying organization. "Now that you told us what we're looking for, I will be very happy to send you to the other world. Neji, Lee, Tenten, whatever you do, please do not look at my eyes after I said so. Neji, I don't know how this would affect you, so please close your eyes." – Said Naruto to which the group nodded since they came to know about Naruto's supposed doujutsu. "Now, why don't we get started, shall we?" – Asked Naruto before his eyes changed into his assassin mode, making the leader flinch at the sudden killing intent.

"W…What's happening here?" – Asked the leader who couldn't stop shaking at the sight of Naruto approaching with his katana and looking fiercely at him. Right now, the leader was seeing his death by the blonde and the sheer force of the killing intent was enough for him to piss his pants, had his control was slightly lower than it was. However, he could only watch paralyzed as Naruto stopped a few inches apart from the guy and with a smooth and clean slash, the man's head was cut from his body. "You guys can open your eyes, now. It's done." – Said Naruto, sounding like a vicious killer than anything. His sword, for one, was drenched with the man's blood as well as Naruto's face. As he passed by his team, he didn't even turned to acknowledge his presence, instead he just walked away.

* * *

-**--Back at the village---**

Back at the village, with all the women safe and the kidnappers killed, the mayor showed his appreciation to Konoha for sending such a competent team and handled the mission payment. The samurai, though, was a little concerned after landing his eyes on Naruto who by now was looking down in shame from letting his assassin mode take control of his will. Truth be told, Naruto didn't want to kill the bastard, just a few deep cuts so as to serve as one scar, but when he decapitated the leader of the kidnappers, he regretted instantly.

* * *

**---At Konoha---**

The ride home was uneventful. On their first day, Naruto didn't voice anything to the group, staying quiet the entire time. After that, he woke up and was normal again. Upon arriving, Neji presented the papers and the team was inside the hidden village of the leaf. "Team, let's go to Tsunade-sama's office. We will have to change the mission rank to S ranked, since there were a great number of jounin level shinobis, even though they didn't have any trouble beating them. Now, because of this mission, Naruto was one step closer to becoming an Anbu and he was smiling the whole way to the Hokage's office.

Once inside, they handled the report and Tsunade congratulated them, however she thought better and decided to keep the A ranked mission, since the enemies wasn't so tough in the end. With the team dismissed, except for Naruto, Tsunade turned to speak when suddenly Jiraya entered the room and stared at the blonde with a reassurance smile on his face. "Naruto, the reason we held you here is because we apologize from not telling you at least a little bit of your family. While I believe that such information is delicate, doesn't mean that at least you should've heard about them. I just wanted to know that we're sorry for what we've done." – Said Tsunade to which Jiraya nodded and Naruto turned to think. "Tsunade-sama, Jiraya-sama; I'll admit that what you all did was very disappointing to me, however that occurred in the time, therefore I don't have a grudge regarding this anymore" – Asked Naruto to which Jiraya smiled and turned to hear him once more. "When I went to my father's house, I managed to see the only picture taken that involved all three of them" – Seeing that his story was far from ending, he continued. "And even though the house is comforting in itself, I still can' find a journal or anything that told of my father and mother's life for that manner. Therefore, I would like if possible, if you two would be able to tell me something about him or her, that helps me to get to know them better" – Said Naruto, earning a deep smile from Jiraya and a soft one from Tsunade who ushered him to seat, since it would take a while. Needless to say Naruto was listening with a smile on his face.

* * *

* * *


	12. New sensei

**Chapter 12 – New sensei**

In Tsunade's office, Naruto was listening intently to what Jiraya and Tsunade were relating about his fathers. Naruto laughed a lot after hearing his mother promising to castrate his father if she caught him reading Jiraya's pornographic novels, but he suffered to imagine someone so pretty and gentle becoming quite vicious and making treats such as castration. After a few hours of stories, Naruto smiled upon seeing how much he now knew about his parents and he was glad to know that both of them were admired in their respective field of work. Minato was considered the best Hokage ever to be nominated and the sole responsible for saving Konoha from the nine tailed fox demon.

Kushina was a medic-nin, whose knowledge could be compared with Tsunade had it not been for her death right after Naruto being born. Naruto was at first sad to know that even though, indirectly, he was the cause of his mother's death. However, the Hokage assured the blonde that because of the kyuubi's attack, Kushina was suffering one major stress, therefore endangering both her and the baby. After such information, Tsunade feared that Naruto would take his wonderings to heart and begin blaming himself from his mother's death; however she shrugged it off after seeing that he would not do such thing.

After the conversation was over, Naruto thanked both of them for telling him stories about his parents and turned for the door. However, he forgot to tell the Akatsuki Intel relating his mission. "Oh I almost forgot. On my last mission, there was something that unnerved me and it came from their leader" – Said Naruto to which Tsunade and Jiraya looked at him.

"According to the leader, he said that we ruined his chances of entering Akatsuki and that a guy named Pein would be very mad at him. According to him, this Pein character managed some guy named Hanzou and took Ame's throne." – Said Naruto, making Tsunade and Jiraya flinch at the name. Naruto knew about the history of the Sannin, therefore he was expecting them to behave like that, towards hearing someone who was able to beat an enemy to whom not even the sannin altogether couldn't beat. "Naruto, if this is true, than we have our first lead on Akatsuki's leader. For some time, I've been keeping tracks on their members, in hopes of gathering information on their members. I'll contact my spy network to see if I can figure something about this Pein character. Hopefully, we can learn his abilities or at least know how to counter it." – Said Jiraya to which Naruto nodded and turned to leave once again, this time not turning around, leaving the sannin thinking.

"I didn't have knowledge on Hanzou being killed. Do you think the information is accurate?" – Asked Tsunade to which Jiraya turned to think. "I didn't know either, although my spy network was in fact having this suspicion. I'll need to go there and verify this myself." – Said Jiraya, worrying Tsunade, since if what Naruto said is true, then Jiraya wouldn't be able to beat someone like him, therefore she decided to use her authority on her once teammate. "You'll go but only for gathering information, I don't want you to fight this Pein, just go there and see if the story is accurate." – Ordered Tsunade.

"I never knew you'd worry about my well-being hime. Don't worry, I won't engage him in battle, I'm not stupid to go face an enemy I know nothing about. Try to remember that I'm an tracker and information gathering specialist. From now on, I won't do any more fighting; let the young and more prepared ones to do it." – Said Jiraya to which Tsunade nodded and smiled. "Yes, now leave I have work to do" – Ordered Tsunade, but instantly regretted once she heard her teammate's peculiar giggling before vanishing. _Damn that pervert._

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

Just as Naruto left the Hokage Tower, a sudden kunai appeared inches from slicing his jugular. He smiled upon seeing his girlfriend's welcome back present. Since the first time Anko sneaked behind him on Naruto's first chunnin exams, the girl seemed to love sneaking behind him again and again. However because of their relationship, Anko wasn't limited to just rest the kunai near his neck, therefore it was safe to say that other physical contacts would be used as well.

After knowing she caught her boyfriend, she blew some air at his neck, making him shiver in anticipation and then whispered closely to his ear. "_You don't know how much I've missed your body on top of mine, Naru-kun." _– Said Anko, making Naruto's body tremble in excitement. Truth be told, Naruto wasn't much of a pervert, however there was little he could control after being hypnotized by his girlfriend. Anko for her part loved the feeling of arousing the blonde up to the point of being aroused herself just from seeing his eyes of lust practically undress her entirely just by looking at her.

"What a great welcome back gift Anko-hime. Therefore it's only fair that I give something for you in return, isn't it?" – Asked Naruto, almost on the verge of taking her right in front of the Hokage Tower. "Oh and what would that be, I wonder" – Said Anko, licking the tip of her finger in anticipation. Without even answering, Naruto smiled deviously, grabbed Anko and began the make out section, much to her pleasure, since at this point; Anko's blood was already boiling. Suddenly, Naruto and Anko vanished within a little tornado, appearing inside his apartment.

* * *

**---In Naruto's apartment---**

At first, Anko was a little bit scared of the wind being gathered around her, however because of the kiss, she knew that her boyfriend would never do anything to hurt her, so she trusted him by deepening their kiss. When they arrived in Naruto's apartment, Anko realized that she was just victim of an elemental shunshin, hence the reason for the little typhoon. "Sorry if I scared you Anko-chan, I just didn't want the kiss to end just for us to reach somewhere private" – Said Naruto to which Anko nodded and began kissing him again, already losing her trench coat and shortening their distance up to the point that her nipples were making contact with Naruto's chest, deepening their make-out section.

After that, Anko pushed Naruto towards the bed and all hell broke loose. However, as the love making proceeded with moans from both sides, two sounds could be heard just outside the room. One was the ever-lasting fan girl giggling and the other being the sound of someone writing profusely on a notebook. Of course, those two sounds were peculiar to one person. The pervert's hunch was proven correct when he saw Naruto leaving and then Anko sneaking behind the blonde. Right there, Jiraya found the expiration for his new book called 'Sadistic Icha Icha'. And so, while the couple was having their fun, Jiraya was having his, while giggling and writing his next piece of art.

* * *

**---The next day---**

Still oblivious to the fact that he just began the leading character of a pornographic novel, Naruto awoke and turned to look at the person who changed his life for the best. He remembered her when he was only twelve and being threatened by her kunai and grinned on the thought of telling other about how they meet each other. It would be quite humorous to see others faces when he told the couple's history. After a while, a couple of mumblings from Anko, since she was never a morning person, she awoke only to see her boyfriend coming back from the kitchen, with bottle milk on his hand.

"Had a good night sleep, hime?" – Asked Naruto to which Anko smiled, while remembering the 'interaction' yesterday. "Well of course, I did. What we did before was even better." – Mumbled Anko, right now remembering him doing stuff to her that would scare even most perverts. "That was great, however I'm not sure but I thought I heard someone giggling outside." – Thought Naruto clearly not even aware of what happened.

"Giggling? Well, the only one I…." – Said Anko but stopped once she realized to whom belonged the supposed giggling. Anko, being one of the hottest kunoichis in Konoha, were sometimes target of the perverted sannin's peeping at the bathhouses and the constant giggles that managed to piss her off entirely. "Naruto, I believe we were just victims of a pervert" – Said Anko, making Naruto realize what his girlfriend meant. Suddenly, his assassin eyes flared for a moment and he vanished, leaving a slightly scared, but more turned on than ever Anko. _Man, I'm even more sadistic than I thought, oh well when he arrives, maybe we can do it in the shower_ – Thought Anko as she headed to the shower, while waiting for her boyfriend to arrive.

* * *

**---With Jiraya---**

Completely oblivious of the fact he was being hunted right now, Jiraya was walking towards the streets of Konoha in peace. His book was almost done and he should thank Naruto and Anko for that. Never before he had such creativity and he'd be sure to give both Naruto and Anko at least five percent of the profits. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind sent him flying and he knew it was a chakra based wind.

When he landed, though, he saw the blonde looking pretty angry at him and knew that he was caught. "Jiraya-sama, tell me something. Were you spying on me yesterday?" – Asked Naruto, scaring Jiraya a little bit. Right now, he was cursing himself from not leaving when he had the chance and now that Naruto knew what the pervert did; Naruto wouldn't be the only blonde who would be quite mad of him.

However, as Naruto was about to demand explanations, the other blonde arrived and now Jiraya feared for his manhood. "Naruto, what the hell happened here, I've received news of a sudden gust of wind blowing every business on the main street and then I see you threatening Jiraya?" – Asked Tsunade, a little worried about what the perverted did to the blonde.

"I have suspicions of this pervert spying on me and Anko-chan yesterday, doing…stuff" – Said Naruto, however none of the two males were prepared to see Tsunade blushing a little bit, making Naruto become even more suspicious of prior attempts of peeping in his private time with Anko. Jiraya smiled deviously at this since he pretty much finished his book with this. "Hhee, about that Naruto, I….kind of spied on you and Anko-san as well one time" – Said Tsunade, to which a sweat drop appeared on Naruto's head. Jiraya for his part was already thinking of a second volume of "Sadistic Icha Icha". He knew that Tsunade often spied on people with the Sandaime's magic ball; therefore she could have even more material for him.

Meanwhile, Naruto was fuming. "Is it too much to be asking for some privacy, damn it. Man, I never knew the sannins were such a pervert. I wouldn't be surprised If Orochimaru appeared and confessed that he liked to group little boys" – Said Naruto to which Jiraya and Tsunade rolled their eyes, as in trying to hold a secret, therefore making Naruto's eyes go wider each second. "So, he does like little boys." – Said Naruto and began laughing his ass off. The kyuubi inside of him also began to laugh, but because of his fame, Naruto would never know if he found it amusing or not.

"Okay, I'll be back to my girlfriend; she would like to hear this." – Said Naruto, before vanishing and returned to his apartment, leaving the two sannins looking at each other. "I know that you'll put those two in that book of yours and I want the first copy of it. You hear me?" – Ordered Tsunade to which Jiraya just nodded and turned to leave.

Once he teleported inside, he heard the noise of water and knew that Anko was taking a shower. "Naru-kun, is that you? Come join me if you want to." – Said Anko to which Naruto smiled and took off his clothes. After all, seeing his girlfriend wet and naked wasn't a sight he would lose anytime soon.

* * *

**----In Tsunade's office---**

After the whole interaction concerning Jiraya's next book, Tsunade returned to her office in order to proceed with the god damn paperwork. Since she was nominated for the position of Godaime Hokage, she was devising plans to get rid of her worst enemy, however there was little she could do and the reason was her first apprentice Shizune. However, as she was reading a report of a failed C ranked mission near Wave Country, a knock was heard on her door and a familiar figure entered.

"Tsunade-hime, how are you in this fine morning?" – Asked Aoi, making Tsunade wonder about the smile on the usually stoic man's face. "I'm fine; I see that Konoha is being good to you, Aoi-san. In twenty years, I don't think I've ever seen you smile" – Said Tsunade to which Aoi grinned, since he now could tell her the reason of the visit. "Well, Konoha's great and all but that's not why I'm smiling. You see, in all my years of active ninja duty, I was never able to find someone worthy of receiving my tutelage. However, never I would have realized that the chosen one would be residing here in Konoha" – Said Aoi.

Tsunade after hearing this wondered who could Aoi possibly meet, that was able to call his attention. Aoi was known as being a perfectionist ninja. Therefore, it was safe to say that whoever the man found would be at least a jounin level ninja. "Ah I see, so tell me who the lucky shinobi is?" – Asked Tsunade, clearly forgetting about the paperwork and focusing on the man's choice.

"That chunnin who happened to bring me here, Uzumaki Naruto" – Said Aoi to which Tsunade got worried. Aoi participated in the Leaf-Iwa War and he well knew how Minato managed to kill a lot of the iwa shinobi force and now the man wants to train the son of the man responsible for Iwa losing the war. Of course, Aoi, being a experienced shinobi, knew of the woman's suspicion and truth be told he would be as well, if he was in her position, however, he knew better than ever thinking about Iwa.

"Tsunade-hime, please do not think that I would try anything with the boy, just because of who his father was. He picked my interest the day I saw him train. He also told me that he'd be facing S ranked missing-nins in the future and wanted to become stronger. He has everything I wish for my apprentice to have" – Said Aoi to which Tsunade nodded. "Even with your training, I don't think he could take on S ranked missing-nins, not yet. He has the skills, but not the experience needed for such a feat." – Thought Tsunade out loud, earning nothing than laughter from Aoi who turned to enlighten the woman a little bit.

"Experience is in fact valuable in a fight, but superior skills can overcome even the most experienced shinobi. I'm no expert on Konoha's history, but I believe that Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi were Anbu level shinobi by the age of thirteen. Now, with his chakra capacity and knowledge both in ninjutsu and kenjutsu, Naruto is bearing A ranked level, with my training, he could be S ranked" – Said Aoi.

"Okay, but why would you come in here and tell me this? You're not a shinobi of the leaf, therefore out of my jurisdiction. You can do what you want." – Asked Tsunade, already aware of what the man came to ask, but it didn't heart to hear his reasons. "While I'm not a shinobi under the Leaf, my apprentice is. So, I'm here to pay for an A ranked training mission for him plus one jounin from Konoha, preferably Kakashi" – Requested Aoi before landing the amount of money needed for the mission.

"Why do you request Kakashi?" – Asked Tsunade to which Aoi chose to reply. "Kakashi s shares a bond with the boy. Together, the two of them will be a force to be recognized in the future. But Naruto needs more fighting experience, so I and Kakashi will be his sparring partner." – Said Aoi to which Tsunade nodded and started to write the mission request and the name of the shinobis that will carry the mission out. "Okay mission accepted Aoi-san. I'll be calling Naruto and Kakashi to relate them the mission. I'll reserve training ground #43, is wide and pretty far from the village center. The mission will start in four hours." – Said Tsunade to which Aoi nodded, smiled and vanished, leaving Tsunade to go fetch Naruto and Kakashi.

* * *

**---With Kakashi---**

Right in the middle of the street, Kakashi was seen reading his all time favorite book. He didn't have a destination in particular, but he was always amused upon seeing women glare at him for reading the novel in public. Few people actually knew that, but Kakashi's most prized hobby was to provoke his peers only to see their reaction. That's why no matter how much his rival Maito Gai screams, Kakashi would always look at him and ask if he said anything.

Suddenly, coming towards him was a couple he knew perfectly well. Naruto and Anko were coming side by side while sharing a conversation. Apparently, Naruto was telling something funny to Anko, because she seemed to be trying to hold falling on the ground from laughter. "Well, hello there Naruto" – Greeted Kakashi with a deep smile on his face to which Naruto returned as well, before being interrupted by Anko falling on the ground, laughing so much that she was holding her stomach. Kakashi for his part looked at the blonde, wanting an explanation.

Naruto, after realizing that his sensei wanted to hear, decided to explain. "I was just telling Anko how I've heard some peculiar information about the snake sannin Orochimaru" – Said Naruto, now earning Kakashi's attention, however no amount of shinobi experience could prepare the silver haired jounin for what he was about to hear. "Orochimaru often enjoys the company of little boys" – Said Naruto, making Kakashi go wide-eyed and remember that his other student was there with the snake sannin. Safe to say Kakashi was also on the ground laughing.

At that moment, Rikimaru appeared carrying a message from the Hokage when he saw his friend on the ground holding his stomach laughing and Naruto looking at him, also carrying a smile. "How is going Rikimaru-san?" – Asked Naruto to which the Anbu nodded and turned to relate the message. "I'm fine as I'll ever be. The Hokage summoned both you and Kakashi" – Said the Anbu then vanished, leaving the blonde chunnin and two jounins getting up. "That was funny. Let's go Naruto" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and turned to Anko who in turn smiled and kiss him deeply. "Don't worry Naru-kun. I always knew that you'd be highly requested in missions. For some time, Sandaime called me for most of the solo B ranked missions, don't worry" – Said Anko, earning a smile from the blonde and then a deep kiss. After Naruto broke the kiss, he began to whisper only for Anko to hear. "When I come back, how about we continue our bath elsewhere?" – Asked Naruto to which Anko smiled deviously at the blonde. "I'll definitely think of a place for that." - Whispered Anko.

However, even though they were whispering, Kakashi heard everything and already wished for the next volume of Icha Icha to be something among those lines. Oh how surprised he will be, after he discovers that his dreams would become reality in the future.

* * *

**---At Tsunade's office---**

When Naruto and Kakashi appeared at Tsunade's office, the Hokage was wondering why the hell the silver haired jounin was trying to hold his laughter as much as he could. Upon looking at the blonde for an explanation, he simply shrugged it off as in having nothing to do with it. However, the blonde was compromised when Kakashi said between now uncontrollable laughter, how it would be like seeing Orochimaru playing with one Uchiha Sasuke. After hearing this, Tsunade shrugged it off since the snake wasn't around anymore to complain about it.

"As much as I find it amusing to hear this kind of stuff about the snake, we need to speak about an 'A' ranked mission you two you'll be performing." – Said Tsunade, earning the attention of the two and then proceeding with the debriefing. "A couple years ago, former Iwa's Anbu captain and now Konoha citizen Aoi-san requested this mission and he asked for both of you personally" – Said Tsunade to which Kakashi instantly got suspicious.

"Oh and before you get all stiff about it, Kakashi, don't. Aoi has great interest in training our blonde here, so he requested an A rank training mission for Naruto and you as training assistant. According to him, he saw Naruto training one day and was interested in passing his abilities." – Said Tsunade, now making room for questions; however there was none since Naruto was satisfied with the mission as well as Kakashi, since he would be present in case the man tried anything.

"Ok, since there are no questions, your new sensei is waiting at Training Ground #43 right now. The training will have a month time, beginning today. Kakashi, you are to help Naruto in any way possible as well as present two reports, being one in fifteen days from now and one final one at the end. I need you to evaluate Naruto's level at the end and present your conclusion of his abilities. Naruto, I think you already know of the reason pertaining the report, but if you don't, Kakashi will evaluate at the end if you're ready to face Akatsuki level ninjas and Uchiha Sasuke if needed be" – Explained Tsunade to which both nodded and left the room towards the designated training area.

* * *

**---With Naruto and Kakashi---**

Deciding to walk towards the training ground, Naruto and Kakashi was sharing a conversation pertaining the Uchiha's level by now and his elemental ninjutsu affinities. According to Kakashi, Sasuke had two affinities, being that Katon and Raiton. Naruto also learned that Sasuke learned how to manipulate raiton chakra in one day and was able to learn the Chidori in two days, demonstrating the ability of his sharingan. Speaking of the sharingan, Naruto needed a way to counter the effects of the doujutsu, but seeing that he had Kakashi to spar against, he could find a way to fight the sharingan.

Naruto, though, wasn't worried about the sharingan, simply because of the usage of kage bunshins; however he was afraid of Orochimaru's curse seal being active during the fight. Kakashi nodded and also shared such concern, since he knew that in that case Naruto would need to use the Kyuubi's power and that was something he didn't wish to do unless it was utterly necessary. "Naruto, the curse seal has a weakness, however you'll need to play dirty in order to use that weakness" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto looked at him, wondering what he was talking about, however before he could ask, the silver haired scarecrow beat his question. "The curse seal when active, kind of transform the user into a monster, completely driven by his emotions, then, not able to think clearly. Also, you know as much as I do, that by mentioning Itachi's name to him, he becomes enraged, therefore using more chakra than necessary." – Said Kakashi.

"I see. However, Sasuke's sharingan could detect if I'm lying or not. How would I get passed this, should I revert to use such low tactic?" – Asked Naruto to which Kakashi smiled seeing that Naruto wouldn't do that to Sasuke. Kakashi knew that Naruto would like to beat the Uchiha fair and square, without using outside sources; however Sasuke wouldn't even consider not using the curse seal against Naruto, which could possibly mean trouble. Although the blonde was strong, not even seasoned jounins could go up against the level two curse seal.

"Very admirable of you; however you have to realize that he wouldn't mind using the power of the curse seal against you, meaning that he'll have the advantage. In this case, you'll need to watch yourself. Remember, strategy in a fight can save your life. Therefore, if you end up facing him, try not to show much of your abilities right away; instead try to gauge his abilities first" - Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and turned to reply. "You're right; although it's safe to say that I will be underestimated by him a lot." – Smiled Naruto to which Kakashi concurred.

"Yeah, he will. Sasuke has a weakness that is his excessive pride and that can be his downfall if you use it wisely. However, let's not dwell at this any further than we have to, Aoi's abilities are a legend among Iwagakure and Konohagakure. If you manage to acquire it, Sasuke definitely will have trouble following your moves" – Said Kakashi, as they reached the designated training ground.

* * *

**---Training Ground #43---**

When the two reached the training ground, they spotted Naruto's sensei resting near a tree while waiting for his student and possibly prodigy. Upon looking, Naruto and Kakashi realized that the man was carrying a katana tied on his waist, which meant that Naruto would get kenjutsu lessons as well. "Welcome Naruto. As Tsunade-hime told you, you'll be training with me for the duration of one month. Therefore, today we'll be fixing your time schedule." – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded. "However, before you begin, please hand me your chunnin vest for a moment, will you?" – Asked Aoi to which Naruto complied and handed the vest.

Suddenly, Aoi began to channel earth type chakra through the vest, therefore adding a couple of pounds to the vest. When Aoi returned the vest to Naruto, the blonde struggled a bit to even stand. "Could you please explain why the hell you did to my vest?" – Screamed Naruto as he was using every bit of his strength to even stand to which Kakashi smiled. "Naruto, Aoi's fighting style uses high speed and powerful muscles. Therefore, you'll need to get accustomed to the overweight." – Said Kakashi to which Aoi nodded and turned to explain. "As Kakashi here explained, we'll be enhancing your muscles and speed. So, you'll need to get accustomed to the weight of the vest; also we'll improve your agility. Now, apart from physical training, I'll teach you some high-ranked doton jutsus and since you so like to create jutsus, all three of us will create high ranked fuuton jutsus" – Said Aoi now that Naruto managed to get up from the heavy weight.

"Okay, I presume this week will be just physical training, then?" – Asked Naruto to which Aoi and Kakashi nodded. "Right, now first we need you to get accustomed to the vest. So pump chakra through your legs and starts running." – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and started the exercise. As Naruto run, with significant effort, since the vest was quite heavy, Aoi and Kakashi just stood there watching. "Now, keep running Naruto. From what I know, you've hardly ever got tired, right. So, with my training, you'll be lucky if you'll be able to stand. Now, after you get accustomed with the vest, we'll test how you mold chakra with the extra-weight.

* * *

**---One hour later---**

After an hour of running, Naruto was feeling weird like he never before. He was sweating and almost kneeling on the ground because of the exercise. Aoi smiled while Kakashi was impressed at the man's teachings. Of course, it didn't mean that he couldn't drive his student nuts with training, but he'd never think of such a tiresome method. Aoi's method was to get used to the extra-weight on the body by using chakra, therefore not only using physical but spiritual energy as well. "Good job. Actually you were able to hold more than I thought you would. Now let's see you mold chakra to do a B level ninjutsu, you can choose the element." – Said Aoi.

"**Suiton Suryuudan no Jutsu **(Water Style: Water Dragon Projectile Jutsu)**." **After that, near the lake a huge dragon made of water was formed, but was something wrong with the dragon's shape and of course power. The Dragon's head wasn't formed right and the attack wasn't as powerful as it should be. "You could've used a less powerful attack, Naruto. However the point was made. Because of the extra-weight and all the running, it will be tougher to control the chakra molding." – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded while panting on the ground. "Man, when you said I'd be lucky if I would be standing, you aren't kidding" – Said Naruto, earning a smile from Aoi. Kakashi for his part smiled as well. "Man, I'd pay to see the day you actually got tired, Naruto. I didn't expect this would happen anytime soon" – Said Kakashi.

However Kakashi froze when Naruto looked at him and smiled. "Whoever said I'm tired, Kakashi-sensei? While my muscles are strained, my chakra capacity is nowhere near low. The only problem is chakra control. While I have enough chakra to last a couple of hours, I'd need to at least have tree walking level chakra control to finish and then I will be exhausted." – Said Naruto to which Aoi smiled and Kakashi understood while mentally wondering how much Naruto could withstand, without suffering from chakra exhaustion or physical fatigue.

"Right, we'll end here for the day, Naruto. Now as you relax your muscles, here is a scroll with four high level doton techniques I gathered up for you. There are the following: **Doton Kyoumou Jishin **(Earth Style: Fierce Earthquake Jutsu); **Doton Deido-ho no Jutsu **(Earth Style: Mud Cannon Jutsu), **Doton Yurasu Yassha **(Earth Style: Rock Catapult Jutsu) and **Doton Iwa Yado Kuzushi **(Earth Style: Stone Lodging Destruction)"– Said Aoi, earning an enthusiastic nod from Naruto. "Now, you'll have to wear the vest until you sleep. The reason for this is for you to get accustomed faster and…" – Said Aoi but was interrupted by a grumbling Naruto who seriously wished that Aoi was still a missing-nin to which both older men laughed. "Stop complaining Naruto. You still have one month with me. Now, you'll have to learn these jutsus by the end of the week" – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and turned to go home, quite tired from the exercise.

* * *

**---At Naruto's house---**

Upon arrival, Naruto left the scroll on top of the dining table and went to the bathroom so as to freshen up a bit. After he left, he came across a note that said that Anko was sent away on a mission towards Wave Country with Team 8 that would take an entire month. Apparently, some thugs are causing some commotion over there and cleaning it up would take a while. Sighing a little bit from the lack of his girlfriend's company for the month, Naruto made it to the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of ramen before looking at the scrolls. Three minutes later, Naruto set the bowl of noodles on the table and began to eat while reading the scroll.

_Naruto, as we discussed in this scroll, there are listed four high level techniques that I'm sure you'll be able to learn. However, these notes are for shinobis who are aligned with the doton affinity. And since you don't have a doton affinity, we'll have to learn the harder way, by practicing until perfection. In this scroll, you'll find all the theory needed to perform the techniques. After memorizing it, practice with the knowledge you already have on doton ninjutsu_.

"Sadistic bastard; he didn't even cut me some slack with this training. Doesn't matter though, I'll be able to perform these techniques by the end of the week" – Said Naruto as he began to read the scroll. Upon reading, he was quite impressed by his sensei's method of explaining doton ninjutsu. Rather than pure theory, Aoi had written his experience while doing these techniques, therefore showing how to do it.

A while later, as Naruto was finishing with the second technique, he heard someone knocking on the door. Quickly catching his katana, he went to the door and opened it, ready for a vertical attack. However when he opened the door, he became face to face with Sarutobi Asuma, who by this time dropped his cigarette and waved for Naruto to hold his attack. "Asuma-sensei, sorry about the sword, I wasn't expecting any visit this time around" – Said Naruto, confused as to why Asuma would visit him of all people. "That's okay Naruto, I just wanted to talk with you for a minute, can I come in?" – Asked the bearded shinobi to which the blonde nodded and ushered Asuma in.

As Asuma entered, he began to scan Naruto's apartment a little bit. A bit too organized for his taste, but the place was comfortable. On top of the table, there laid a scroll to which Asuma smiled upon seeing that the blonde indeed change for the better. "Can I get you anything, Asuma-sensei? Sorry, I don't have much to offer, since normally people don't come for visit." – Said Naruto, although not even fazed about the prospect of being withdrawn from society, making Asuma mentally flinch upon speaking like this in such casual manner, like it was normal.

"Thanks, I already ate. Actually, Kurenai asked me to tell you that she and Anko would be away for a while and that they wanted to gather for dinner" – Said Asuma to which Naruto nodded. "Fine by me; I'll be staying in Konoha for a while." – Said Naruto before he began to read the scroll once again. "What are you reading over there?" – Asked Asuma, clearly interested in what techniques the youngster generation is reading these days. "Oh, only some theory regarding doton ninjutsu; no big deal" – Said Naruto to which Asuma smiled.

"Doton, you say? I'm guessing it because it's your affinity, then?" – Asked Asuma to which Naruto immediately nodded, correcting the bearded shinobi. "No, actually I don't have a doton affinity. I just happen to have some interest in learning doton ninjutsu. In fact, my affinities are quite the opposite from doton" – Said Naruto, not even bothering to look at the man's face, not because Naruto didn't like him, but because of the third technique that was listed on the scroll. Asuma, for his part, wondered about what Naruto meant by affinities in plural. At the chunnin exams, Asuma saw Naruto perform three types of elemental ninjutsu that being futon, suiton and doton. However, he didn't bother at the time to know about what element he was aligned with. Asuma knew from experience, that managing to learn three elements by the age of sixteen was almost impossible to do and he knew Naruto wouldn't be considered a genius like Uchiha Itachi.

"Out of curiosity Naruto, which element you're aligned with?" – Asked Asuma to which Naruto took his eyes from the scroll and looked at the older jounin for a moment. The blonde knew for a fact that telling others his strength like that would mean his death, if someone was spying on him from outside, however he couldn't sense any presence nearby, so he relaxed. "My affinities are fuuton and suiton with fuuton being the primary affinity and suiton being the second." – Said Naruto, satisfying the bearded man's curiosity. Also Asuma was smiling from knowing another fuuton user. For a while, then, Naruto and Asuma began a conversation about fuuton techniques, missions and taijutsu/kenjutsu styles of fighting. After that, Asuma bid his goodbye to Naruto who returned to reading about the last jutsu on the scroll.

* * *

**---Next day---**

As expected, Naruto had arrived at Training Grounds #43 earlier than it was supposed to be. The reason was because he thought he was late and speed up to arrive only to see that either Aoi or Kakashi was there yet. Naruto was afraid that Aoi would be as late as his silver-haired sensei, however he found that since no one was around, maybe he could rest for a while, seeing that he ran with his now over-weight vest on.

So, he chose the next tree and just sat there, waiting for both of his senseis to arrive. After an hour had passed and yet no sign of any of them which meant that either they forgot about the mission which was unlikely or they were mocking him. Not being one to remain resting for long, Naruto chose to begin the exercises by channeling chakra through his legs and starts running around the training ground. While he was running, sometimes he would use his fuuton supplementary technique called Fuuton Bakushin (Wind Style: Dash Jutsu).

When Aoi and Kakashi arrived, at the same time, both of them saw Naruto now jumping between trees while apparently using fuuton chakra on occasions for a little 'push'. "I told you, he wouldn't wait for us, Kakashi-san. It seems you don't know your student like you said you do." – Said Aoi to which Kakashi scratched his head, imagining Naruto screaming 'you're late' at both him and Aoi, but then he wasn't surprised seeing that Naruto did enjoy the concept of alone training from time to time.

"Naruto, would you come down for a second?" – Screamed Aoi, earning the blonde's attention, thus heading towards the pair of late senseis. "Well, better late than never, at least, right Kakashi-sensei" – Said Naruto to which Kakashi smiled and turned to Aoi for him to talk about the next part of the training. "We apologize for the delay, now seeing that you've already got accustomed to the vest; we'll head to the mountains over there." – Said Aoi, while pointing towards the specific region. Naruto and Kakashi for his part looked at the older ex-shinobi in puzzlement as to why they would train in there, however when they saw the old man smiling, Naruto at least regretted even more of the day he brought this sadistic man to Konoha.

* * *

**---At the mountains---**

"Man, this way I'll die before facing either Akatsuki or Sasuke." – Said Naruto as he slammed one kunai at the mountain and looked down for a moment. The exercise was simple, climb the mountain up to the top of it. However, simple didn't mean easy. Actually, Naruto couldn't use chakra; therefore he was limited to the use of kunais to climb the mountain.

Meanwhile, on top of the mountains, Kakashi and Aoi were discussing the reason behind doing such an exercise. Truth be told, Kakashi had to endure a much tougher exercise, where he only had one hand to use, since the other was tied by a weight ball. However, using only kunai was new even to him. Aoi explained that iwa shinobi does this training for endurance purposes and be able to improve the climbing with Kunai was tougher than using bare hands, since not only it was a foreign concept, but also one has to stab the kunai harder only for the weapon to be able to hold his weight while climbing.

After a while, the noise of kunai stabbing rock was heard and Naruto appeared almost on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. "Good, Naruto. Two hours and twenty minutes, not bad. Now rest for a bit and then we'll see how your combat skills will be hindered because of the over-weight" – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and sit down with force, lifting some dust because of it. While he was down, collecting his breath for maybe the first time in his life, Naruto was pondering on the man's training regime. _Man, never have I got such a slave-driver for a sensei. Kakashi was okay, but he was obliged to teach only the Uchiha; the pervert sannin only wanted me to control the fox's chakra. Hell, but Aoi is pushing me to my very limit' _–Thought Naruto as he watched the two older shinobi locked into some kind of conversation.

After a period of fifteen minutes for recovery, Naruto got up and stretched a little bit. The other, seeing that the blonde was rested, moved towards to him. "So, now that you've rested somewhat, it's time for us to have a little spar with one another. Naruto, first, you'll spar using only taijutsu with Kahashi here and then you'll be sparring in kenjutsu against me_"_ – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and walked away to get in a fighting position. Kakashi smiled at the prospect of a rematch between the two, went towards Naruto and set up a fighting stance a few steps away from the blonde. Not even needing an authorization, both shinobis charged against each other and were matched with fist meeting fist. After that, Kakashi used his other arm to strike Naruto to which the blonde merely used the same arm to block Kakashi's strike and then swing his legs for a kick that would be aimed at Kakashi's chest, had the silver-haired jounin not blocked Naruto's foot and counter-attacked with a kick off his own, which managed to hit Naruto on the side.

After hitting Naruto, Kakashi found it strange at first that although Naruto saw the attack coming, he wasn't able to react in time to either dodge or block the incoming kick. However, he then remembered that Naruto was wearing his over-weight vest and this little exercise was to gauge how much would affect Naruto's movements in the first run. "Naruto, as I'm sure you saw the attack coming, I'm also sure that because of the vest, you couldn't evade the attack on time" – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and held the area where Kakashi hit him. "Damn it Kakashi-sensei that was one hell of a kick" – Mumbled Naruto, making the silver-haired jounin smile and then replied. "That was payback from those jutsus you used on me on our last spar. Now we're even" – Said Kakashi.

Deciding that the kenjutsu spar would be worthless right now, Aoi moved to another subject. "Naruto, since Kakashi-san's attack was unavoidable, it is safe to say that a sword attack would be even worse, so let's move on for a bit, shall we. We'll be doing more physical training until you get accustomed with the vest. But first, let's see about the jutsus you read yesterday. Show me the first one. Actually, try making the smaller version of the first one called **Doton Jishin no Jutsu (**Earth Style: Earthquake Jutsu)" – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded. While travelling through the hand seals just like he remembered from the scroll, Naruto was able to mold the correct chakra. Seeing that he already molded the attack, he slammed both his hands on the ground and the mountain started to shake violently. Aoi, for his part, was both amazed and angry at Naruto. While he did the correct seals and the correct chakra molding, he ended up using more chakra than it was needed for the technique, therefore doing the **Doton Kyoumou Jishin (**Earth Style: Fierce Earthquake Jutsu).

"Naruto, although I'm pleased to see that you made the first technique of the scroll, you seemed to have used more chakra than it was necessary, therefore being totally unacceptable. While on a fight, you'll need to save as much chakra as possible, so not to get killed or taken by surprise…" – Said Aoi, but was interrupted by the silver-haired jounin who decided to enlighten the ex-iwa Anbu on the blonde's situation. "Aoi-san, even though Naruto's chakra control is above average, he has a rather large chakra capacity, therefore being quite difficult to use the correct amount of chakra for each specific jutsu. Don't worry, though, he'll never run out of chakra"- Said Kakashi to which Aoi nodded and dismissed it, since he knew about the Kyuubi being inside of the blonde, therefore chakra wouldn't be a problem to the blonde. "Okay, Naruto, now about the second jutsu of the scroll, can you make it?" – Asked Aoi to which Naruto nodded in the negative.

"Not yet. I'm having some doubts as to the mud part. At first, I thought it would be like the **Doton Shoryuheki** (Earth Style: Earth Wall Jutsu), however I can't seem to know how I can expel mud like a cannon does." – Said Naruto to which Aoi turned to think about it. "As I expected, learning these doton jutsus would be tough for you since it's not your affinity and all, but we'll just have to practice until you can succeed. Now, I'm going to demonstrate the technique and explain how I do it, okay?" – Said Aoi as he progressed through the hand seals and opened his mouth, releasing a fast shot of mud at a rock that was nearby, making a hole on it. After forming the mud, you need to gather as much chakra and air you can through your lungs. Once good enough, you simply open your mouth and exhale the shot with the air powered chakra, sending the mud further like a cannon." – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and then turned to the older man for what to do next.

"Right, well next part of the training, you're going to go down this mountain once again without the use of chakra while me and Kakashi here will be using **Doton Iwa Yado Kuzushi **(Earth Style: Stone Lodging Destruction)at you, meaning that boulders will be rolling down at you. Your objective is to dodge the boulders while running downhill literally" – Said Aoi, making Naruto shiver and Kakashi to sweat-drop seeing that the man's objective was to kill Naruto through training him for death.

* * *

**---One week later---**

One week after the beginning of the training, Naruto was already accustomed to the over-weight vest and was already able to fight against Kakashi and Aoi without worrying about acting on time. Also, he managed to perform all the techniques listed on the scroll, therefore learning all the ninjutsu that he would learn from the ex-Iwa shinobi. Also, Kakashi and Aoi were surprised to see that Naruto's muscles were enhanced quite a bit and the reason was that Naruto, after the fourth day of training, began to lift boulders around.

Now, the three were gathered to discuss the following weeks of training. So far, Aoi told Naruto that the physical training would be enhanced simply because after getting accustomed to the old training, doing it again would be pointless. Also, since Naruto aimed to be a jutsu inventor sometime in the future, Kakashi was there with him to help him with the creation of new ones to use.

"So Naruto, according to Aoi here, you have a like for new jutsus, so let's hear about your ideas?" – Asked Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and turned to think out loud. "Well, there are a couple of fuuton techniques that I was thinking about. First of them is to create a dome around a certain point. I pictured this after being trapped inside a dome made of earth by one of Orochimaru's men on the Uchiha retrieval." – Said Naruto to which Kakashi turned to reply.

"That's not a bad idea for a jutsu, but the bad side of fuuton ninjutsu is that is tough enough to be able to control the element at the palm of your hand or a weapon you're carrying, however focusing on a certain point it's almost impossible. However I know of a technique that Asuma once used that was able to create a little typhoon around a certain object and turned to control such object through controlling the typhoon around it" – Said Kakashi, while thinking a little bit.

"**Fuuton Suiran Reppu **(Wind Style: Verdant Mountain's Violent Wind)" – Said Aoi, earning the attention of the chunnin and jounin. Kakashi, having remembered the technique, nodded and turned to Naruto to explain it since now he remembered how Asuma did it. "Yes, now I remember. I'll explain to you later about it, now what of the other one you're thinking about" – Asked Kakashi, earning a suspicious smile from the blonde, thus making Kakashi suddenly unease with himself. Ever since Naruto and Anko began to date, Anko's devious smile was slowly being passed to the blonde and now whenever Naruto smiled that way, something really bad would happen.

"The second technique I was thinking about it would be a fuuton version of your raikiri called **Fuuton Kazekiri **(Wind Style: Wind Edge Jutsu)." – Said Naruto, making Kakashi go wide-eyed at what his student was implying. Kakashi was considered a genius of his time and thus creating an S ranked ninjutsu like the **Raikiri **(lightning edge), labeled him as the one of the elite of Konoha. Now, seeing his student, the supposed dead-last of his generation, attempting the same thing was nothing short of amazing.

"You just keep surprising me Naruto. It took me quite a lot of time to create the raikiri, though it wouldn't surprise me if you were able to create your technique in no time with the aid of Kage bunshins" – Smiled Kakashi towards his student, still flabbergasted at the idea of Naruto being a silent prodigy all this time. Aoi was just enjoying the conversation and somehow impressed by the boy's balls on trying to change the element of a technique.

Speaking of Aoi, the old man was quite thrilled on seeing how Naruto was progressing due to his method of training. Truth be told, Aoi wasn't sure if the boy or anyone could live through this type of training, however because of his healing abilities, courtesy of the fox, Naruto could endure what most couldn't and that thought kept dwelling on his mind to think that Naruto may be able in the end to perform Aoi's S ranked doton ninjutsu. The **Doton Tetsu Toride** (Earth Style: Iron Fortress Jutsu) was Aoi's prized technique and was able to protect Iwa's walls against multiple attacks from Konoha's forces back at the war.

Such jutsu was labeled as a kinjutsu by the Sandaime Tsushikage and was enlisted at their Forbidden ninjutsu scroll, simply because of the amount of chakra necessary to perform the technique, let alone be able to sustain it. Aoi was able to hold the fortress for only two minutes before collapsing from chakra exhaustion. However, Naruto do have the chakra necessary to use this technique should Konoha be attacked by some very powerful force in the future. "Now, since we have two more jutsus to learn, how about trying to complete them or at least one of them in the end of this week?" – Asked Aoi to which Kakashi looked at him as in he was crazy and death.

"Aoi-san, I don't think you listened before. It took me three years to master the Raikiri, what makes you think that Naruto can do it in a week?" – Asked Kakashi, gaining a nod from Naruto as well, since he agreed with his first sensei on this one. "Say Kakashi, how much days there are in three years? 1080 days correct?" – After Kakashi nodded, the man continued. "So, Naruto would have seven days to finish this technique of his. Now, you told me that Naruto can manage up to 200 kage bunshins and still continue the training, right. So, in one week, wouldn't you say that the boy could do what you did in three years?" – Asked Aoi, though clearly making a statement, making the silver-haired jounin send his jaws on the ground at such implication.

Truth be told, he was the sole inventor of this kage bunshin training, however knowing how much he suffered while trying to create the lightning edge, he couldn't find it possible to do such a thing in a week. However, upon seeing the old man's reasoning, he found that he couldn't counter such an argument, simply because it was the truth. Naruto could train in a week what the silver-haired jounin only could in three years time. "However, since Naruto's two technique's concepts are hard enough, let us use one week for each of them, okay?"- Suggested Aoi to which Naruto nodded since he was okay with it; however Kakashi was still in deep wondering about the true powerhouse that is his student.

'_Damn it, if Naruto wanted, he could learn all the jutsus in this village in only a year.__' – _Thought Kakashi as he was facing probably a better ability than the sharingan that can copy the jutsu. _With the kage bunshin, Naruto could learn and master the jutsu in a hour which most shinobis manage it under a day.' _– Thought Kakashi as he saw the blonde going through some series of physical exercises now being on top of water.

* * *

**---With Anko and Team 8---**

While Naruto was training his ass off, Team 8 and Mitarashi Anko was having their fun taking care of an army made of some bandits and B-level criminals that was reported to cause some commotion around the country. Right now, Kurenai, Anko, Hinata, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru were heading to Tazuna's home after a little clean up on one of the criminal's base north from the capital. The mission was simple, get in and dispose of the foes. However, for the first time in her life, Anko wished she was back in Konoha right now. Or at least that Naruto would be sent with her for this mission. Although Kurenai was with her, thus having someone to talk to, Anko was left with a whiny brat, a stoic bug-user, a flea bag and a timid Hyuuga.

On the way back, Anko was staring at the timid Hyuuga who was feeling a little unease from the staring. Anko knew from Kurenai that this Hinata person always had a crush on Anko's boyfriend and from what the genjutsu mistress told her, Hinata was still due to know about Naruto's involvement with purple-haired kunoichi. Kurenai, upon seeing the continuous stare, went up to Anko and whispered in her ear to stop to stare at Hinata to which Anko just shrugged it off and admired the view in front of her.

Now at the beginning of the famous bridge that was named by no other than her boyfriend because of his team's mission against Momochi Zabuza, one of the toughest members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist Shinobi. Anko also heard from the drunken Tazuna character that the blonde was quite famous around this region from returning the village's hope forward creating a better place for them. Tazuna also said that because of the bridge's completion, traders and merchants from many parts of the elemental countries were able to visit the place and bring their business, thus improving the village's income. And least, but no less important, Naruto managed to save the man's grandson from depression over his father's death and now the boy was studying engineering to be like his grandfather one day.

But back to Hinata, Anko had to admit she was a little unease with herself from the thought of possibly fight over a man's heart with the timid girl. From what Kurenai told her, Hinata had her crush on Naruto since the academy, but was too shy to make a move, thus never able to express what she feels about him. _Huh, as if Naruto would care for someone like her, I bet she couldn't even make a full sentence before stuttering like a maniac. Come to speak of it, this girl seriously need a lesson of self-confidence…Wait, that's it' – _Thought Anko as she maybe found the reason as to why she has a crush on the blonde.

Ever since growing up, the blonde never once quitted the path he chosen or whine about something being too hard. No matter what it was, Naruto would go through hell in order to accomplish what he set his mind to do. Anko knew that and now she knew the source of Hinata's crush on the blonde, but she needed confirmation from the girl's sensei before deciding to confront the timid Hyuuga, which by the way, until today, was on Anko's list of impossible things to ever occur in life.

When they arrived at Tazuna's office, the chunnins were to their respective rooms, leaving Kurenai with Anko and Tsunami talking about the blonde. "So, Anko-san, tell me more about Naruto-kun. The last time I saw him was four years ago, but I still hear his shouts of joy and determination" – Smiled Tsunami as she began phasing out a little bit and imagining that big grin of his that happen to bring back confidence to the village. Anko for her part, scowled at the woman but figured that from what Naruto did to this village, all Tsunami wanted to know was how their savior has been doing all these years and the fact that Tsunami smiled when Anko told her of her relationship with the blonde, so Anko started talking with a big smile on her face.

As Anko were relating her boyfriend's life so far to the brunette civilian, Kurenai couldn't help but smile at her long-time friend. Never once did she thought she would get to see Anko demonstrating pride while talking about someone she deeply cared about. She felt somewhat pity for Hinata, because of her crush for Naruto. However, not only the timid girl never make her move, but also knowing Naruto like she does now, Hinata wouldn't even be able to keep up with him. From what Kurenai knew, Naruto somehow acted like he was many years older than he is and that fact alone proved to Kurenai that no woman his age would be able to fill in the role of his partner in life.

Now looking at Anko as she was telling about how Naruto managed to trick one mind-reader kunoichi back in Konoha by having her invade the body of his clone instead of his and that Anko finished the prank by hitting on the clone which was now a girl named Yamanaka Ino. After hearing about this prank, Kurenai tried to hold her stomach from laughing so hard by imagining the scene being played in front of her. "No way, he did this. He seemed to me such a sweet kid, I cannot imagine Naruto-kun thinking of something so devious like that" – Said Tsunami, making Kurenai and Anko stare at her like they just saw a ghost. Those who knew Naruto from the academy until graduation, knew he was a prankster at heart, but now actually hearing Tsunami say it like that, both Anko and Kurenai decided to tell a bit more about the blonde. "Tsunami-san, Naruto-kun has always been somewhat of a prankster in Konoha. In fact, the one I enjoyed the most was seeing the entire Hyuuga family's underwear being hanged outside their compound, it was hilarious to see their angry faces" – Said Anko, laughing while remembering the looks of pure hatred and even some blushes from some members.

"No way, Anko-chan; I'm not one to enjoy pranks, but what Naruto did to that pervert of a sannin at the hot springs on that day nearly sent me to the hospital from laughing so much" – Said Kurenai, now earning Tsunami's attentions as she was learning more about the blonde enigma. "Oh nothing too fancy, just he did an academy jutsu and transformed into our Hokage. It was safe to say the man reached Iwa in record time that day. After the man set out a new limit, Naruto was there with a big grin on his face after catching yet another victim" – Said Anko, remembering how delighted every girl at that day from seeing the pervert gone. "The man was so scared, he didn't come back until he took Naruto on a three year training trip" – Said Kurenai, making Tsunami wander how frightening could this Tsunade be, given that someone actually pissed her off.

Little did the women knew, however, that a little bug went flying away from the kitchen and landed on Shino's finger, relating everything that transpired of the conversation. _'Huh, I guess I won't tell Hinata about Naruto's relationship with this Anko person, it's better that she find out from the horse's mouth_' – Thought Shino as he went back to his room to call it a night and rest.

* * *

**---Back in Konoha---**

"**Fuuton Kaze no Engai **(Wind Style: Wind Dome Jutsu)" – Thought Naruto as he progressed through the hand seals and then like he predicted, a dome made of wind was created in front of him. Next to him, Kakashi and Aoi watched with interest at the creation of yet another fuuton ninjutsu. Now that Kakashi remembered, Naruto had just created the **Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **(Wind Style: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu) and now here he was with another one being added to his arsenal. At the end of yet another week of training, Naruto managed to create the wind dome technique and now he was perfecting the technique, as well as rationalizing on its uses and weaknesses. "Kakashi-sensei, what do you think could be accomplished with this technique? I mean, the earth dome manage to extract chakra from the one captured, but this dome wouldn't do that." – Asked Naruto to which the genius jounin turned to think about it.

"Other than isolating the air around the enemy, thus chocking him to death, I can only imagine the enemy being torched to death" – Said Kakashi, earning a confused look on Naruto's face to which Aoi decided to step in and explain. "What Kakashi here is trying to say is that fuuton element serves to enhance the power of katon ninjutsu, therefore if someone would throw a katon attack at the wind dome, the one trapped would be crisped." – Said Aoi, satisfying Naruto's doubt. "Now, since the first jutsu was perfected, let's move on to the next. So, let's finish today's training with a kenjutsu spar" – Said Aoi, before summoning his sword to which Naruto smiled and took his own to fight.

* * *

**---At Tsunade's office---**

As promised, Kakashi was to give a report on Naruto's training every two weeks to the Hokage. Being that said, the silver-haired jounin was in front of the blonde hokage, relating the many physical exercises that Aoi made Naruto perform while wearing an over-weight vest. While Kakashi was saying, Tsunade was getting the feeling that Aoi would try killing Naruto through physical exercises. "So, you mean to tell me that Natuto had to escalate the highest peak near Konoha without the use of chakra and wearing weights? When Aoi asked permission to train Naruto, I figured he would be teaching a few ninjutsu and eventually increase his taijutsu/kenjutsu abilities. I didn't think he would enhance Naruto's body mass." – Said Tsunade, clearly concerned since body builders don't excel much as shinobi, since most of them tend to favor strength than speed, thus getting himself killed eventually.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto isn't going to become a body builder. Aoi-san has been training him with weights so that Naruto could get accustomed to it and become faster without it. The slight increase on his muscles will only benefit him. Also, regarding ninjutsu, Aoi already taught Naruto four doton ninjutsu and we're able to create a new fuuton technique called **Fuuton Kaze no Engai **(Wind Style: Wind Dome Jutsu)." – Said Kakashi to which Tsunade smiled at yet another fruit of the boy's creativity. "Another for the list, eh Kakashi; I thought that his tornado tunnel jutsu was quite effective, but if this jutsu is what I think it is, than maybe we could promote him to Tokubetsu Jounin, specialist in the arts of fuuton ninjutsu" – Said Tsunade, earning a nod from Kakashi who agreed with the Hokage's intentions.

"I concur Tsunade-sama, however Naruto's ninjutsu abilities isn't limited to fuuton ninjutsu alone. Other than that, his suiton and doton knowledge exceeds most chunnins of these respective elements. I would say, he has expertise on all these three elements. Another thing Tsunade-sama, I wanted to maybe test him, if I may" – Asked Kakashi to which Tsunade nodded but for Kakashi to proceed. "Naruto's kage bunshin training can make him train in a week what I could in three years, so I was thinking if maybe with enough training, maybe Naruto could learn all five forms of elemental manipulation." – Said Kakashi, making Tsunade think about it for a second.

_It was true that way he was growing, it wouldn't be long for Naruto to be able to learn all elements, but such knowledge could overload his brain, if we're not careful. Until now, the only ones who managed all forms of manipulation was Orochimaru and Jiraya and those two only managed these feat a few years ago. But Naruto can multiply his training progress, thus being able to shorten the real time needed for such a feat. _– Thought Tsunade as she looked at the silver-haired shinobi. "Kakashi, what you're talking, is dangerous. Having knowledge on all forms of elemental manipulations could overload his brain and seriously damage his body if he's not careful. Not to mention that the other two elements are the hardest and most unstable to control. Raiton jutsus could fry his system if he's not careful and katon techniques could burn him from the inside." – Said Tsunade, clearly concerned over his well-being.

"It is best for us to wait a little bit Tsunade-sama. Naruto has been training and doing missions non-stop. It would be wise to let him have a somewhat vacation in order for him to cool his nerves a little bit. I noticed while he was training, that his adrenaline system was on high alert, meaning he wouldn't be able to stop by will alone." – Said Kakashi, with his chin resting on top of his hand in a thinking position.

"It's possible that he will be able to learn all forms of manipulation. But as of right now, he can counter most types of elemental attacks that come after him. In time, he'll have all the experience required to learn all five elements. But for now, let's focus on improving his physical abilities. Let him and him alone worry about what other techniques he wishes to learn. Hell, he may have created another one as we speak" – Said Tsunade, however was taken aback when Kakashi's face showed her that what she said was true. "He already invented another? Which one?" – Asked Tsunade, now clearly surprised.

Kakashi for his part opted to demonstrate and made the Raikiri in front of the Hokage. "Naruto is now attempting to change the **Raikiri** (lightning edge) to **Kazekiri** (wind edge). He even came with the idea for a somewhat wind drill just like the Raikiri's piercing abilities, thus trying to invent a new assassination jutsu." – Said Kakashi, making Tsunade smile since Kakashi's smile was quite visible despite the mask.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

Back with Naruto and Aoi, they were currently dueling against each other. Clangs of metal hitting metal echoed all over the valley below them. After the last attack from both sides, Naruto and Aoi were eyeing each other. Right now, the fight has begun. It never mattered how much skills one possessed while swinging his or her sword, a real sword fight pretty much ended after only one fatal hit. One strike to the heart and the fight is over. Therefore, one crucial mistake and the person won't live to regret. So, now Naruto and Aoi were staring deeply at each other in a final test of patience. Aoi did belong to a samurai clan back in Iwa, thus he knew this to be tradition between sword fighters.

Ten minutes later and nothing; no sound of muscles bending indicating any possible movements; no attack intent noticeable which meant that both warriors could hold their ground and not be intimidated by the other. However, while no sound could be heard on the outside, inside their minds, thoughts could be heard on analysis on each other's stances. Aoi was actually impressed at the kid's patience when it came to sword dueling. Naruto for his part was trying not to move on the outside, but inside he was in turmoil. In order for this exercise to be completed, Naruto would need to calm himself down and learn how to analyze the situation. Upon looking at his opponent, Naruto was simply dumbfounded at the man's ability to be still. His eyes didn't even blink, his muscles were as relaxed as if he was resting over at the Hot Springs. Compared to this man, Naruto was like an amateur in pretty much everything.

Another ten minutes passed and this time, Kakashi arrived. Since he knew what Aoi wanted to do with Naruto, he didn't even voice his arrival. Naruto, however, at this point, was not fairing very well. A couple of sweat-drops were visible on his face and his breaths weren't peace and calm anymore. Aoi, seeing this, sighed and kind of wished that the boy would be able to maintain it longer, but then again for a first time, it was acceptable to his terms. "Let's stop, Naruto. From what I saw, you managed to hold your ground for quite a while, however for you to be able to win a duel like this, in no time until the attack, can you lose control of yourself like that. Next week, we'll change the course of our training. Any more physical training and your body would become too rigid, therefore lacking in speed and agility. Now, instead of training your body, we'll train your mind" – Said Aoi, earning a look of confusion from the blonde to which the man chose to explain better.

"Right now, you're in no state of mind to truly be able to fight a tougher opponent. Remember, emotions in a fight can only lead to disaster. You attack with rage and the enemy will take advantage of that, stabbing you in the back when you least expects. You attack with fear and the enemy will kill you in a second. While on a fight, rationality and instincts are your best allies. Use rationality in order to counter ninjutsu attacks and use your instincts to see where the enemy will strike and try to anticipate his moves. Your assassin stare can only do so much to an S ranked shinobi, until he learns to counter it and the eyes are rendered useless. Being that said, we'll change our training area to where all three of us first meet, at the river. There, you'll learn how to be in peace with your mind and spirit, thus being able to take on tougher opponents. Now, it's getting late, so head home and tomorrow we'll meet again at the training ground near the river." – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and turned to leave.

After he left, Kakashi went towards the ex-Iwa shinobi. "Do you think he can achieve such state of mind, being a jinchuuriki?" – Asked Kakashi to which Aoi nodded and turned to reply. "Of course, it will be tougher for him than it is for most. Even if he could somehow calm his spirit for some time, it's not enough for him to be able to be calm during a fight to the death against either Akatsuki or Orochimaru. Also, the fox complicates things a lot. Naruto will have to learn how to ignore the kitsune's ramblings inside his head for him to be able to complete this exercise. Kakashi, this is important for him, so let's concentrate the third week solely on meditation and analytical exercises. The kazekiri will be for the last week of his training" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi nodded and smiled thinking that Naruto would get to have at least a whole week of relaxation.


	13. Peace within

**AN: **For those who read the last chapter of the "way of the hunter-nin" story, know that I wouldn't put any more updates until next year. However, I'm afraid that the passion for fanfiction is too much for me to just stop writing. Also this story was the last one I updated so I chose it to place my last update for this year. Now, please enjoy this chapter and we'll be seeing each other next year. To all of you, happy holidays.

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Peace within**

After leaving towards home, Naruto was thinking again of how much stronger he was now and the fact that one of Iwa's finest is his sensei. Suddenly, Naruto became interested in learning about shinobi celebrities around the elemental nations. He was ashamed to know that from all the high level shinobis around the world, he only knew three, those being Zabuza, Kisame and now Aoi.

Naruto always had interest in learning about tough shinobis, hence the fact that the Yondaime Hokage was his idol. However, he would like to know if there are S ranked level shinobis in other countries as well and the one place he knew he could learn, of course, was the library. Ever since he initiated this new phase in his life, the library was his next favorite place besides the ramen stand. So he decided to head to the library, pick a few books then head to the ramen stand for some dinner and then head home to do some reading.

* * *

**---With Kakashi and Aoi---**

After seeing the blond leave, the older shinobi decided to treat the younger one for some dinner and converse with Kakashi on something. Aoi was quite impressed by the Yondaime's son and his abilities to grow even further than Naruto's father; so impressed that he was having doubt about staying out of active duty any longer. Kakashi, after receiving the invitation, accepted while saying that he didn't have anything else to do and some dinner would be nice.

When both of them entered inside a sushi place, Kakashi began to read his book while trying to understand the old man's reasons for wanting to talk to him. Aoi for his part wondered why the hell was the silver shinobi reading such book while having dinner, but shrugged it off and turned to ask the man. "Kakashi-san, tell me how it is to be a Konoha shinobi" – Asked Aoi to which Kakashi landed his book on top of the table and turned to look at the old man with suspicion. "Why do you ask? I thought you enjoyed the calm life of retirement" – Mumbled Kakashi.

Aoi smirked after remembering that he indeed liked resting next to the river and see the sunlight illuminate the trees that surround the village, however the man was a shinobi, thus not doing anything can only do a ninja so much before boredom arises. "At first, yes I considered just resting and doing nothing, however being such an active shinobi as I was back in Iwa Anbu, boredom seems to be my mortal enemy right now and I can't let this happen. I thought about applying for academy teacher, since I'm a firm believer that Konoha's program is a little too soft with the future generation, thus a little more incentive was in order. However, after fighting Naruto so much, I realized that if I can parry against such a stamina freak like him, I could perhaps return to active duty as a jounin and take a genin team to teach, what do you think?" – Asked Aoi to which Kakashi turned to think a little bit.

Kakashi knew that he wasn't the best for advice in times like these. The results of him being place as jounin-sensei for Team 7 proved disastrous to say the least. After seeing how much potential Naruto has and his ability to learn everything that is taught to him in minutes, Kakashi was somewhat blaming himself from focusing too much on Sasuke and abandoning the other two to whom the silver haired jounin actually thought could gain more from his training than the traitor, even if the council pretty much demanded his full attention to the last Uchiha. "Aoi-san, I can only tell you so much about being a shinobi for the leaf, however I'm not the best one to tell you about taking on a team of genin" – Whispered Kakashi that last part to which Aoi looked surprised.

"Okay, tell me first about being a shinobi for the Leaf and then we can discuss as to why you don't feel the best candidate for taking on a team of genin" – Suggested Aoi to which Kakashi nodded and turned to explain to the man. "Because of your age and experience, I can say for sure that you will adapt quite nicely to the program. Our village focus more on teamwork then individual abilities, however not as much that out shinobi cannot handle himself in one on one fight, thus why the last phase of the chunnin exams is a one on one fight. After passing the chunnin exams, our shinobi goes from being another one on a squad to squad captain, thus beginning to perform missions with other shinobis. In order to become a jounin, one has to master at least two elements and perform enough B and A ranked missions to earn experience. As to your case, actually the only position available would be to train our future genin" – Said Kakashi to which Aoi looked at him and questioned as to the reason of Kakashi's last statement.

"The reason is simple, Aoi-san. Tsunade-sama wouldn't send you in 'B' and even 'A' ranked missions, simply because there isn't one in which a sannin-level ninja would perform, thus leaving only S ranked ones and special ones that only Jiraya-sama has the ability and proficiency to do it. Actually, the Third Hokage already considered this as well, therefore he placed Jiraya with a genin team that consisted of the Yondaime Hokage and two other ones whose names escaped me; Orochimaru took Naruto's girlfriend Anko as his personal apprentice and Tsunade chose her lover's niece Shizune to become her apprentice." – Explained Kakashi to which Aoi thought about it and concluded that he would accept the offer should it arise.

"Okay, training a couple of brats is okay as well. If they have half the will to learn as Naruto has, then my team will be quite strong in the future. Now tell me about why you don't feel competent to tell me about being a jounin for a genin after we get to order, though. I'm quite hungry right now and you can blame the brat for this" – Said Aoi before the called for the waiter who, then wrote their orders. After Aoi thanked the man, he turned to Kakashi who was now looking down in clear shame and opened his mouth. "I failed with my own. My team was composed of Naruto, the last Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. At the time of the team assembly, Konoha's council called me and ordered me to give all attention to teaching Uchiha Sasuke simply because he was the last one of one of the founding clans of Konoha. At the time I didn't know that Naruto have such potential to learn everything in record time and the fact that because of his dead last position in the academy, I assumed he would eventually give up being a ninja. Sakura showed every aspects of being a fan-girl towards Sasuke, up to the point of not even wanting to train while thinking that the Uchiha would save her in the end" – Said Kakashi to which Aoi nodded and let the man continue.

"However, after Orochimaru attacked the village, he marked Sasuke with a seal that gave him power and Sasuke defected Konoha and went to join the snake sannin. After that, Sakura was apprenticed to the Hokage and Naruto was apprenticed to Jiraya. Sakura managed to learn a lot from Tsunade-sama, thus gaining a lot of the abilities that made our Hokage famous throughout the Elemental Nations. Jiraya-sama, however, didn't teach Naruto much other than a few basics on genjutsu and trying to help Naruto control the Kyuubi's chakra. At the end of three years of training, although his physical abilities improved, Naruto didn't learn much, thus wasting three years of his life. When Naruto returned from the trip, his team at the time went to retrieve Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru. However, the mission failed because Orochimaru appeared and Naruto had to use four tails worth of the Kyuubi's power, thus wasting a lot of stamina and also not being able to fight against the Uchiha, thus failing the mission. Naruto's change, however, was when they returned and all of his teammates blamed him for the failure. After that, he abandoned his teammates and decided to train on his own. To sum up, Naruto became stronger in one year training alone then in four years with a teacher….Therefore, it's safe to say that I failed all of my students. Even though I taught Sasuke a lot, he ended up defecting Konoha for power; Sakura improved a lot under Tsunade-sama's guiding and Naruto became stronger on his own. None of them…needed me" – Finished Kakashi before looking even further towards the ground.

Aoi for his part, now knew why the man was sad about it, however he saw at Naruto's eyes when Kakashi was there and he knew that the blond still regarded the jounin as a sensei figure. "Kakashi, I wouldn't consider a failing as you put it. I can see that Naruto still praises you as his sensei. He still sees you a teacher" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi smiled. "Naruto is a special case, anyone would be furious in his case, however he isn't. He came to know of the council's orders to teach Sasuke and said that I wasn't to blame for the team, however he also told me that he's better training alone and that alone hurt me a lot" – Mumbled Kakashi to which Aoi smiled. "After a while, any shinobi can learn stuff on their own, you managed to create Konoha's strongest assassination technique pretty much by yourself. The Yondaime created rasengan and hiraishin all by himself. Naruto is already able to create jutsus on his own, simply because he already knows the theory needed for Shinobi arts" – Explained Aoi to which Kakashi looked at the man wondering what he was implying. "Naruto doesn't need anyone to teach him anymore. We're just preparing him to fight A and S ranked shinobis" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi nodded.

"I talked to the Hokage about teaching Naruto all forms of elemental manipulation in the future; do you think he is able to learn?" – Asked Kakashi to which Aoi turned to think about it. Iwa shinobi wasn't fond of its shinobi learning all forms of elemental manipulation. In order to become a jounin in Iwa, one should have mastered doton manipulation and master either taijutsu or kenjutsu. He learned from the silver man in front of him, that here in Konoha, in order to become a jounin, one had to master at least two forms of elemental ninjutsu and participate in several successful missions. However, the thought of learning all forms of elemental manipulation was a concept that didn't mean anything to Aoi simply because, according to the man, no matter how much knowledge one ninja has, if a simple kunai pierces the heart, the man is history.

"I don't understand how eager you guys are to learn all forms of elements, no matter how much you know, you're still vulnerable to a simple kunai. He could learn all of them easily, however it won't matter in the battlefield Kakashi" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi nodded. "Naruto is a master in kenjutsu; I had a friend from the Anbu forces take good care of that. He already knows Suiton, Doton and Fuuton techniques, only leaving Katon and Raiton to master. His kage bunshins can learn everything in much less time, thus being able to learn them all" – Explained Kakashi to which Aoi snorted and said once again that learning all elements doesn't say anything. "In learning all elements, he could be promoted to Tokubetsu Jounin in ninjutsu and further promoted to full jounin after some accomplished missions. I've already talked to the Hokage and she is afraid of Naruto suffering from mental overload." – Said Kakashi to which Aoi laughed and turned to say. "That old hag needs to stop worrying about her little brother in such a way and begins to treat him as the powerful chunnin he is right now. As to mastering all elements, he won't have any trouble learning it, however he'll have to approve first" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi nodded.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

At the library, Naruto was taking a few books on some famous shinobi from Konoha. Unfortunately, his idea of getting to know about shinobis from other nations was flushed down the toilet simply because Konoha preferred to divulge information of its own rather than those from other countries. For Naruto to know about others, he would have to pick a specific book called bingo book that contained information of all famous shinobi with expensive bounties in the black market. However, the librarian made sure to pick the books containing Konoha's best and handle them to the blond.

After checking all the books and telling Naruto to give them back in twenty days, Naruto bid her far well and left the public library towards the ramen stand. Upon arrival, he simply shouted his favorite order to the old man and was surprised to see that only Teuchi's daughter was attending tonight. "What a surprise Naruto-kun. I wasn't expecting you here, is been so long since you came to see us" – Said Ayame as she wrote Naruto's order and began to prepare the meal. Naruto for his part, smiled at the girl and turned to answer. "Sorry about that Ayame-chan, the fact is that I've been so busy with missions and training that I didn't have time to think about my stomach needs. Say, where is your father?" – Asked Naruto, earning the woman's attention while waiting for the noodles to be ready. "Father went to a village close by to handle with our oil supplier. The man's prices rose considerably and now father went there to negotiate with him" – Explained Ayame before looking at the gold hair, blue eyed man in front of her.

Ayame found it strange to begin a crush on such person, simply because she saw him growing up. When Sandaime Hokage came in and brought a happy go lucky little kid to the stand, Ayame was already 12 years old. After that, Ayame saw Naruto growing up while shouting how good ramen is to anyone that was present. Now, however, he was calm and reserved; thus the fact that he was patiently waiting for the food to arrive, showed to the girl how much Naruto grew up. Not to mention that his new shinobi appearance really suited him as well. When the clock ringed showing that the noodles were done, Ayame woke up from her daydream and went to check on Naruto's dish. The blond for his part was suspicious of the looks he was receiving from Ayame and wondered if perhaps the woman was starting a crush on him. Upon figuring this out, Naruto wished to be other place right now, he wasn't used to this kind of situation and now he was thinking of how to tell her that he has a girlfriend.

After Ayame settle Naruto's dish in front of him, he thanked her and begin to eat quietly while appreciating the food of the gods. Ayame, however, knew that the blond already found a woman for him and also knew that she was much older than him just like she was. While Ayame didn't like to fall for guys that were already taken, she couldn't help but look at the blond's looks for a moment. "Tell me something, Naruto-kun. I know that you already have a girlfriend and I also know that she's older than you, so I'd like to know how the age gap doesn't affect the relationship?" – Asked Ayame, being quite forward, making Naruto even more uncomfortable and even more suspicious of the woman in front of him to which the girl managed to catch it. "I didn't mean to be so forward here, I'm just curious and don't worry about me coming on to you, Naruto-kun. I find you really cute and all, but you already has a girlfriend" – Said Ayame albeit a little bit sad at the last part to which Naruto smiled and nodded at the girl.

"Sorry about that, Ayame-chan, it's just that I'm not used to this. As to the age gap between me and Anko, I wouldn't see it as an obstacle to our relationship. Our lives are very similar and our characteristics are almost identical in a way. Anko is a wonderful person once you pass by her emotional wall that she uses to hide her true self. Normally I wouldn't believe in fate so much seeing that my life wasn't exactly nice and all; however Anko and I share a lot of burden together. Not to mention the fact every time she smiles, it makes me want to make her smile even more in return" – Said Naruto earning heart-eyes from Ayame who in turn was already seeing a romance movie in front of her. "That's pretty romantic Naruto-kun. I wouldn't picture you for one, though. I guess that I've never realized in what kind of man you grew up to. This Anko person is very lucky to have someone like you in her life" – Said Ayame before turning away from the blond so as to keep the tears that were already falling for herself, however she wasn't fast enough and Naruto saw it.

The blond was now sad that he ended up causing this, but it was never his intention to do so. However, now he needed to calm the girl and explain to her a few things. "Ayame-chan, please don't cry. It wasn't my intention to make you cry, I just didn't realized that you felt this way for me, I…" – Said Naruto but was stopped by Ayame's hands waving him off. "It's not your fault Naruto-kun; it's mine for not seeing you with different eyes until it was already too late. Every time I saw you, I imagined that sweet kid that came in here and pretty much eat all our stack of ramen. But now that I see you differently, it's too late for me…" – Whispered Ayame to which Naruto left and appeared at the back of the shop to comfort the girl who happily rest her head on his shoulder. "Ayame-chan, as flattered as I am that you feel this way for me, my heart belongs to Anko…Please don't be mad at me from saying that I don't view you as more than a close friend of mine. As long I can remember, you're there for me to talk to and I appreciate it, but…." – Said Naruto but once again was interrupted by Ayame.

"It's okay Naruto-kun. I'm not offended. There were times I saw you as a little brother figure as well, I…I can see how much are your feelings for this Anko and I hope you two have a happy life together. I just wanted to know if maybe our friendship isn't ruined by my stupidity and that we can talk with each other, every now and then" – Said Ayame to which Naruto smiled and nodded. "Do not worry Ayame-chan, we'll always be able to talk with each other, and in case you're in need of help, please come to me and I will help as much as I can" – Said Naruto to which Ayame nodded and lifted her head to look at the face she fell for smiling at her.

After they broke the hug, Naruto bid her fare well and left to his place so as to read the books. However, one thought pass on his head and that was the possibility of others like Ayame feeling the same way for him. He sighed in apprehension at any positive possibility simply because he didn't like to be in these situations where he needed to comfort the girl and pretty much crush their heart in response. However, his heart belonged to Anko now.

* * *

**---With Anko---**

After another victory for Konoha's team against the bandits, Anko and Team 8 were returning to Tazuna's place to rest. On the way, Anko talked to Kurenai about telling the shy Hyuuga about her relationship with the blond. To say that Kurenai was scared would be an understatement. She was terrified for her student, simply because Naruto was the sole reason of her improvement up to now. Once upon a time, Hinata told Kurenai that she wouldn't quit, simply because Naruto wouldn't as well. However, she understood Anko's reasons also felt that handling this situation as quickly as possible would ease the girl's heartache in time. She remembered already telling that the blond was seeing someone, however she didn't tell Hinata who it was or how evolved the relationship was.

After arrival, Kiba and Akamaru went to their room in order to sleep a little bit as did Shino. However as Hinata went to hers, Kurenai called her and asked her to stay for a while to which the girl nodded and complied. "W…What is it, Kurenai-sensei?" – Asked Hinata to which Kurenai breaded a little bit before delivering the bomb. "Hinata, I called you here because me and Anko here wanted to talk to you about something" – Said Kurenai, making Hinata look at the woman next to Kurenai, worrying what this was about, before Kurenai began talking once again.

"Hinata, do you remember when I said that Naruto was already seeing someone?" – Asked Kurenai to which Hinata sighed and nodded, while remembering how much she cried that day. After seeing the nod, the red-eyed jounin proceeded. "Well, the thing is I know who said person is and it's already came the time for you to face this issue if you want to grow up as a kunoichi as well as a woman. The person who's dating Naruto is my…friend Anko here" – Said Kurenai, earning a whelp in surprise from the Hyuuga girl who almost broke her neck when she turned to meet said person and look her in the eyes for the first time since the mission started.

After looking for a moment, Hinata sighed once again but this time in defeat. When Kurenai told her that Naruto was already seeing someone, she went to her room and cried the whole day, cursing how shy she was and how stupid she was not to have the guts to tell the blond how she felt about him. However, after said day, Hinata wondered about what she liked the most about Naruto and was ashamed to realize that the only thing she liked about him was how much determination he has to stand up and never give up on things that are in front of him. Hinata didn't have anything against Anko, other than the fact that she could be quite scary when needed be. Hinata also knew that Naruto changed a lot from the one he was before leaving with Jiraya for training.

"Ku..Kurenai-sensei, I'll be honest and say that I was sad on that day and cried a lot also. However, you're right when you said that the only feeling I have for Naruto-kun is his determination and bravery to stand up for what he believes. I also know that he is stronger than before, thus he needs a powerful companion by his side. I wouldn't be able to fill such a roll with him" – Said Hinata looking down in shame at her abilities to which Kurenai looked at her student with pity. Anko, however, was already fuming at the girl. She actually wondered if Hyuugas were bipolar or something. "Kurenai-chan, I'm sorry but this girl needs to learn a lesson in self confidence. You say you admire Naruto-kun's strength and will to not give up and yet you wallow yourself in self pity, saying over and over again how weak you are compared to others" – Shouted Anko to which Kurenai snorted at the sudden outburst, saying that it won't solve anything by screaming.

Hinata, however, lowered her head even more in shame, but she couldn't help it. It was in her nature to be always looked down upon. In all her life as a kunoichi, not once did she manage to win her fears and the only time she managed was when Naruto cheered for her match against Neji in the preliminaries. When the Hyuuga girl moved to say anything, everyone was surprised to see a kikaichu bug leaving Hinata and Shino appearing in the living room.

"Hinata, although I wouldn't use such words that Anko-san here just used, I concur with her assessment regarding your self confidence. I admit Naruto simply exhales waves of confidentiality; however you can't depend on him to be self-confident. I've already seen you able to beat opponents that either I or Kiba had trouble beating. You need to realize that you have abilities that can match with Neji-san when you're focused. Therefore, it's my assessment that you should be more confident of your abilities as a kunoichi" – Said Shino to which Kurenai and Anko smiled and turned to look at the girl who in turn, smiled at the bug user and his concern for her well being.

Kurenai and Anko managed to see a bright smile on Hinata's face at Shino's concern and one thought came through both women. Shino was always there for the girl when she was in trouble and never once treated her less than anyone, however this was because all Aburames preferred logic over anything else and thus, treating anyone differently than the other with no reason at all would be illogical. "Thanks Shino-kun. I will try to improve my self-confidence" – Said Hinata, smiling at the Aburame who lifted his eyebrow in surprise upon seeing the woman smiling at him.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

Once he settled down at his apartment, he laid the books at the table and made some tea to drink while going over the story of Konoha's best since its foundation. When Naruto opened the book, he wasn't surprised to see that the first man on the book was the Shodaime Hokage. Master at Mokuton (Wood release), Senju Hashirama was considered the strongest shinobi of its time and rumors said that the man was able to control the bijuus at will. Naruto knew about Yamato and the fact that he is a mokuton user as well, which made him wonder if Yamato was by chance, related to the Shodai and by consequence, the Hokage since Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage.

Flipping the page, he saw Hashirama's brother Senju Tobirama and once again was fascinated by the man's prowess with suiton ninjutsu. Tobirama was able to use suiton ninjutsu without the need of water being nearby by simply taking advantage of the atmosphere molecules, thus generating water from nothing. Not to mention that the man's genjutsu repertoire was considered to be legendary amongst the shinobis. After reading about Tobirama, Naruto turned to think as to how the man was able to attain such level of control and wondered if he could eventually learn how to use suiton ninjutsu without the need of water and vowed to ask either Kakashi or Aoi tomorrow.

Since Naruto already knew about the Sandaime, the Yondaime and the sannins, he skipped said pages and landed on someone called Hatake Sakumo. According to the book, Sakumo was a sannin-level shinobi who committed seppuku after a failed mission. Being referred by the elemental nations as the White Fang of Konoha because of some white chakra that seems to fill his body and channel to his sword, Sakumo rivaled the power of the sannins. Naruto recognized the last name as the same as his sensei and wondered why he never saw any white chakra coming from the man.

Vowing to ask Kakashi later, Naruto moved to turn the Page only to see the one responsible for a lot of bad events in Konoha. Uchiha Itachi was considered the clan's prodigy on his time and maybe even considered the best since Uchiha Madara. Having graduated the academy at the age of 6 and becoming an Anbu captain by the age of 12, Itachi was considered a genius. Although Naruto blamed Orochimaru for killing the Sandaime and causing the death of many shinobi, it was Itachi's actions that killed his entire clan and transformed Sasuke into a damn fool who did nothing but demand power to kill Itachi.

Also, Itachi was a part of the group who was after the monster inside of him. Although Naruto was stronger now, he was humble enough to know that he wouldn't be able to fight a man of Itachi's level, not only because of the Uchiha's abilities as a shinobi, but also the man's sharingan. Naruto figured that summoning a number of kage bunshins to deal with Itachi wouldn't do so much results and fighting one on one would be plain suicide. Naruto knew that in order to fight an Uchiha, one has to figure out how to either counter the sharingan or outnumber him. That being said, the chunnin concluded that he should never attempt to fight Itachi alone.

However, Naruto also knew that he would have to fight against Sasuke alone. Nevertheless, Sasuke would be easier to fight because he wouldn't have to worry about Sasuke using Tsukyomi on the blond, simply because Sasuke's sharingan isn't as evolved as Itachi. Thinking of his old rival, Naruto wondered how the hell Sasuke could live with himself. Focusing so much on revenge and the body becomes accustomed to it to the point that when the man gets his revenge, there isn't so much the man could do afterwards. Naruto heard that from Kakashi once and it made perfect sense. After setting his mind purely on revenge, even if Sasuke did manage to kill Itachi, it's possible that Sasuke's life would simply have no meaning whatsoever.

After viewing a couple of pages, Naruto sighed since apart from the first ones, the rest wasn't that much impressive. A few were able to master a specific ninjutsu element, but none of them ever matched Nidaime's level of control in terms of suiton ninjutsu. Others were kenjutsu masters and even managed to create some styles that rivaled the ones from Kiri, however none of the others worth Naruto's interest. Closing the book, he went to sleep snorting that he didn't find any valuable information in order to focus on, aside from attempting Nidaime's level of control in suiton ninjutsu which was almost impossible to achieve simply because suiton is a secondary affinity.

* * *

**---The next day---**

After arriving at the lake, he was surprised to see both his senseis were already there and turned to make a joke at Kakashi from being kicked out of bed against his will. After hearing the little comment, Aoi grinned and Kakashi snorted at the blond from the joke. Naruto dismissed the issue and turned to talk to Kakashi a little bit over what he came up with last night. Naruto turned to explain about the time he read about Nidaime's water manipulation ability and asked if such level was attainable. Kakashi was surprised at the question, but decided to think about it for a moment.

"The Nidaime Hokage was indeed famous for suiton manipulation; however that was because of the fact that he had a primary affinity for suiton and yours is a secondary affinity. Also, no book ever told how the man did it, simply because it's almost impossible to attain such a level. The Senju clan has high affinities for earth and water based jutsus running in their bloods, thus how the Shodaime was able to use Mokuton Ninjutsu. For you to have such level of control over suiton ninjutsu, thus being able to extract water from the atmosphere, you'd have to be able to focus suiton chakra and channel it at the atmosphere which it's difficult even in theory" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded.

Seeing the need to interrupt the conversation, Aoi approached the blond and landed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto, we won't be training ninjutsu this week. This week will be all for meditation and awareness training. You will be in the middle of the lake sitting on top of the water while focusing chakra through your senses of smell and hearing. For a moment, nothing will happen simply because achieving the level in which I hope you achieve will require a lot of patience. However, being a shinobi, you won't have time in the battlefield, thus it's important that you can be focused at all times. Being that said, Kakashi and I will try to take away your attention by whatever means necessary. At the end of the exercise, you'll tell us what we did and how we did it, understood?" – Asked the man smiling to which Naruto once again snorted and mumbled words like sending the man back to Iwa.

"If I knew you're such a slave driver, I wouldn't have accepted this mission" – Mumbled Naruto as he went to the middle of the lake, earning laughter from Aoi who turned to reply. "the more you complain about it, the more I'll feel compelled to increase the training, now stop mumbling and head to the lake" – Said Aoi. Kakashi, while being the one who was listening to the conversation, was concurring with Naruto about the man being a slave driver. _Man, he is even tougher than Minato-sensei_. However when Kakashi saw the devious smile in the man's face, he definitely didn't want to be in Naruto's shoes right now. Seeing the blond, he was already positioned in the middle of the lake and closing his eyes.

"Kakashi, both of us will be using elemental ninjutsu. I'll be shaping the earth around the lake and you'll be using both katon and suiton ninjutsu. For this day, we'll see if he's able to identify which techniques we are using" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi nodded, however one question was in mind. "Doton is impossible to tell just by hearing, Aoi-san. He won't be able to tell one technique for the other simply because the only thing he'll hear is the earth moving" – Questioned Kakashi to which Aoi smiled since he was expecting such question. "Naruto is a doton user as well, thus he knows how each techniques sound like. Also, I'll only be using the techniques he knows, so he will be able to hear" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi nodded and waited for the signal to start the jutsu.

* * *

**---Inside a cave near Rice Country---**

While Naruto was training, his old rival was with the kusanagi in his hand, dueling against some Oto jounins. Charging chidori through the sword, Sasuke attacked the oto jounins who didn't even had a chance and were electrified from the attack. After that, Sasuke sheathed his kusanagi and medic-nins went to attend the unconscious jounins on the ground. Applauses were hearable and Sasuke turned to face the snake sannin who was accompanied by Kabuto. After the whole interaction with his old peers from Konoha, Sasuke intensified his training. The reason being that he now knew of Naruto's secret and couldn't help but want to test his abilities once again against the jinchurriki.

It didn't help that after the encounter, he knew from Orochimaru that Naruto summoned four tails worth of the Kyuubi's chakra and became stronger than the snake sannin. Wasn't for the fact that Naruto in such form became berserk, Orochimaru would've been hard pressed to save his life instead of facing the little kyuubi. Also according to Kabuto's rat inside Konoha, Naruto is being trained by an S ranked missing-nin from Iwa who fought at the Third Shinobi War. However, Sasuke's pride and his rivalry against the blond, got the better of him and now he was underestimating the dobe's abilities. Kabuto also told him about the blond now being a chunnin and performing quite a number of missions in Konoha.

Turning to a huge boulder, Sasuke transformed into his second stage of the curse seal and made some hand signals. **"Katon Gouryuuka no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu)". After that, a huge dragon head made of fire charged against the boulder and a high explosion echoed through the cave for minutes before dissipating the sound. Satisfied with the results of his creation, Sasuke reverted back to his normal self, before turning towards to where his room would be. However as he begin to walk, he was called by the snake sannin.

Upon looking at the snake sannin, Sasuke usually wondered why the man would close his eyes or turn his back to the Uchiha upon speaking. Little did he know, however, that the when the sharingan is activated, Sasuke could see where the opponent was going to be next, thus being able to see what the man's thinking. "Sasuke-kun, it's time that we tested your abilities so that when the day comes, you can kill Itachi for good" – Said Orochimaru to which Sasuke remained staring in denial. "Until now, you faced only jounin level shinobis and won. However Itachi is an S ranked Shinobi, thus you'll have to start taking on tougher opponents. In two weeks time, you'll go to Konoha and eliminate Uzumaki Naruto. Not only he'll be able to test you quite well, also you can eliminate that little pest who's ruining all my plans" – Ordered Orochimaru to which Sasuke snorted.

"The dobe isn't by any means, close to Itachi's level and it would only be a waste of my time to face him in battle" – Said Sasuke before turning to his room. However, he didn't know that Orochimaru's best ability was that he is able to provoke anyone into going berserk. "If I didn't know so well, I would say that you're scared of Uzumaki. What? Too afraid that he could beat you and send your Uchiha pride down the toilet" – Said Orochimaru before feeling the killing intent that was radiating from the Uchiha. "Don't you dare diminish the Uchiha's pride. Naruto is nothing compared to me and I'll prove it by bringing his headband to you." – Shouted Sasuke before storming out of the training are and heading to his room.

After seeing the Uchiha leave, Orochimaru smirked at his companion. "So much power, yet so easy to control. Soon, Sasuke, soon your body will be mine." – Said Orochimaru as he licked his lips in delight over having the sharingan for himself.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

_**Katon Housenka no Jutsu **_**(**Fire Release: Mythical Phoenix Fire Jutsu)

_**Doton Doryuheki no Jutsu **_(Earth Release: Earth Wall Jutsu)

_**Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu **__(_Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu)

As the noise caused by the techniques, Naruto now knew what Aoi meant by distracting him; although he didn't see why the use of jutsus and not directly disrupting his concentration like he was supposed to. Naruto, long ago, became somewhat accustomed to being in said position on top of the water. Also focusing chakra on his ears and nose turned to be a delighted experience for him because now he was able to hear noises that normally he wouldn't be paying attention like the sound of the running water or the sound of the wind blowing the leafs.

However, he had yet to attain the state of tranquility that Aoi mentioned, simply because of the sudden noises coming from the jutsus that Aoi and Kakashi were performing. Another aspect that Naruto was finding hard to get by was the damn fox that was laughing evilly at the blond's attempt of obtaining piece within. "**Don't make me laugh boy, with me inside of you, you'll never be able to achieve such state of mind." – **Said Kyuubi to which Naruto ignored and proceeded to just focus on hearing and smelling the outside world.

At the end of the meditation exercise, Naruto stretched a little bit because of the time He stayed seating and walked towards his two senseis who smiled at the blond. "So Naruto, first let me explain that although I'm sure you didn't reach the state of mind that I mentioned, you was able to remain seated with your eyes closed for quite a long time. So, for today, you passed. However, me and Kakashi here had a hidden exercise, hence the jutsus that we used as I'm sure you heard them" – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded and turned to ask. "I thought the jutsus were meant to distract me?" – Asked Naruto.

"They were, however seeing that this week, you'll be performing meditation exercises as well as awareness exercises, and today you'll be tested in elemental ninjutsu based on what you hear or smell. So, both I and Kakashi used a total of six jutsus in order to distract you. Can you tell us what elements were there and try to guess what techniques there were?" – Asked Aoi to which Naruto closed his eyes and began to speak as he was remembering what happened.

"Well, the first one was definitely was a katon jutsu because the raise in the area's temperature. Also, I managed to hear only one strike which meant that was a one-hit attack, so it was either the **Goukakyuu no Jutsu (**Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu) or **Karyuudan no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Projectile Jutsu)." – Described Naruto to which Kakashi responded. "Close enough but no, you're right regarding the element, but the technique I uses was the **Karyuu Endan no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Jutsu)" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto snorted at almost getting it right, but proceeded with the other ones. "The second was a doton technique and the technique was **Doton Iwa Yado Kuzushi **(Earth Release: Stone Lodging Destruction Jutsu). I managed to hear the stones sliding down the mountain" – Said Naruto to which Aoi nodded and smiled at the correct answer.

"The third was easy from being the target of it once. It was Kakashi's chidori simply because of the sound that were equivalent to birds chirping at the same time" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Kakashi who thought it was quite easy to figure out and let Naruto figure out the last three. "The forth one was a katon and because of the multiple hits that reached my ears, I'm guessing it's the **Housenka no Jutsu** simply because this is the only one able to hit multiple targets." – Said Naruto and then looked at Kakashi who nodded and counted three right answers out of four jutsus used. "As to the fifth one, I could hear the noise of mud falling on the ground so it was an earth jutsu. As to the technique is no doubt, the **Doryuheki no Jutsu** (Earth Release: Earth Wall Jutsu)" – Explained Naruto to which Aoi nodded in consent.

"The last one, however, I'm in doubt. I know it was a suiton ninjutsu from the water noise, however as to the other noise I can't figure if it was from a dragon (Suiryuudan no Jutsu) or the noise of the **Daibafuku no Jutsu** (Water Release: Grand Waterfall Jutsu)" – Thought Naruto to which Kakashi smiled and said it was the first one.

After the conclusion of the exercise, Aoi applauded the blond in passing this week's first test. "Nicely done, Naruto; now seeing as this week is pure meditation, we will only be doing this once a day. Seeing that we still have the light of day, let's discuss a little bit about the **kazekiri**.Tell us your ideas for such creation" – Asked Aoi and then motioned the three of them to sit. "Well, I have to say I haven't thought about it that much, because of the whole suiton level control, however I was thinking of the same movement as the raikiri. I was thinking in terms of focusing fuuton chakra around my hand and maybe creating what would be like a wind drill. Starting bigger wind rotations around my wrist and finishing with shorter and more precise wind rotations on my fingers, thus literally creating a wind edge" – Explained Naruto, more like trying to describe a picture than explaining the theory.

Nevertheless, by seeing Aoi and Kakashi nod and pause for thinking a little bit, Naruto felt satisfied that both of them got the idea. Kakashi, however, expressed his concern over Naruto's idea. "In theory, the technique is attainable. However, for you to accomplish this kind of technique, you have to be able to able to control the speed of each rotation" – Said Kakashi, earning a look of confusion from Naruto to which Kakashi turned to explain a little better. "As you learned from the rasengan, the smaller the rotation, the faster it is. Using the drill as example, the top rotations aren't as fast as the bottom or as you said the edge of the drill. So in order for you to be able to perform such technique, you'll need to learn about how to control wind velocity. However it's not as easy as it sounds; you not only need to learn how to control speed, but also being able to increase its speed from your wrists to the point of your fingers" – Explained Kakashi to which Aoi nodded in consent.

"I agree with both of you in regards to the technique. I agree with your idea Naruto, because of what I know of the raikiri, the only way to replicate with the fuuton element is in fact to create a wind drill. However I agree with Kakashi in regards of how tough it will be to perform the technique. Based on what you told us, after you're able to create the wind rotations, the speed in which you charge at the enemy will be the last factor of the creation. The faster you charge, the faster the drill will spin, thus increasing the technique's potential" – Explained Aoi to which Naruto nodded.

"I was thinking of creating four different rotations. One slow rotation around the wrist; the second is a little faster rotation around the palm of my hand; the third being around my finger, ending with a faster and more precise rotation around the tip of my finger" – Explained Naruto to which Kakashi and Aoi nodded in consent.

"I can teach you the same speed technique that I taught Sasuke if you so wish to, I…." – Said Kakashi but stopped once he felt Naruto's killing intent at such remark. Whether it was because of Sasuke's favoritism or just the mention of the Uchiha's name, Kakashi didn't know, however Naruto made visible that what Kakashi said did get on the blond's nerves. "Kakashi, this technique was stolen from the person who created through years of training without said person's consent. I don't have the nerve to accept a stolen technique" – Said Naruto in a icy tone to which Kakashi flinched at the insinuation of him being a thief, however he remembered Maito Gai saying the same thing to him when Sasuke used that speed to attack Gaara.

"Be as it may, in order for this technique to hit the opponent, the user must either have a way of knowing when the enemy will try to dodge so that the user can anticipate" – Said Kakashi, trying to change the topic to which Naruto swallowed hard and gave his line of thought. "I won't be using this technique all the time Kakashi-sensei. I know of the tunnel vision that your attack produces, so I will only use the kazekiri when I'm certain that the opponent won't be able to dodge. No offense, but technique like the rasengan and raikiri are extremely vulnerable techniques once the enemy knows its weakness. In my point of view, jutsus are the best options for mid to long range fighting. In terms of close range, the best attack is either taijutsu or kenjutsu" – Said Naruto to which Aoi nodded at the assessment.

Kakashi, however, wasn't so thrilled with the blond's assessment. Sharingan users are close-ranged fighters by nature because of how they anticipate one's movements and the fact that Kakashi took three years to create the raikiri, Naruto's ideal was like a direct hit to the jounin's pride. However, Kakashi knew that Naruto was a mid to long range fighter, therefore he wouldn't know how it is to fight in close-range. "What's the point in creating a close-ranged jutsu if you don't believe in its potential?" – Asked Kakashi to which Aoi looked at the man questioning the reason to the question, however Naruto smiled at seeing the man was offended by what the blond said.

"The point is to cover all my weakness, Kakashi. I have a goal and that is to be an all-round shinobi. My ambition is to be able to fight in close, mid and long range against any jutsu or fighting style" – Said Naruto, earning a look in surprise by Kakashi who thought he already knew everything there is to know about who exactly is Uzumaki Naruto. However, a thought occurred to the silver haired man and he smiled. "So you intend to learn all elements then?" – Asked the man to which Aoi looked at him once again remembering their prior conversation. "Although that is seriously difficult, yes I intend to in the future, learn the other two elements. I've been studying some introduction about fire and lightning manipulation. Of course, learning the elements that are the opposite of my affinities it seems almost impossible (Water beats Fire and Wind beats lightning)" – Said Naruto, clenching his fists in anger however determination was plainly visible in the blond's eyes.

Kakashi pretty much forgot the remark about close-ranged fighters and smiled at his student. "No matter what your affinities are, learning all five forms of manipulation is very hard to attain. If I recall, only Jiraya and Orochimaru were able to learn all of them and they took a lot of time to do so. However, I believe you might be able to learn all of them in the future. With your kage bunshins, you can have more time to train, thus being eventually able to at least learn a few katon and raiton techniques. However, you must know that even though you learn all five of them, you must improve the other areas you already know" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and turned to leave since the training ended for today.

Once he left, Kakashi stood there smiling while Aoi came near him to talk. "His goal is dangerous, Kakashi. Not even the sharingan user can manipulate all elements and a ninja's affinity is the ninja's strength" – Said Aoi concerned from his student to which Kakashi smiled once again and answered the man's question. "Naruto isn't greedy by any means. He will only learn other forms of manipulation when he masters the ones he already knows. However, Naruto must know that doing so with only sixteen, could seriously temper with his mind. The older you are the better you deal with what you learn" – Said Kakashi to which Aoi nodded.

* * *

**---One week time skip---**

In the end of this week, Naruto was found once again sitting in the middle of the lake. However this time was different than the first time, since Naruto did manage to achieve the state that Aoi mentioned before. On the course of the week, Naruto remained seat until the aching of his muscles while Aoi and Kakashi tested his awareness. So far, Naruto had to tell them how much projectiles were thrown at a specific tree and distinguish the kunais from the shurikens. Kakashi even added an exploding tag to the attack, which earned some complaint from Naruto. Safe to say Naruto wanted to shove his kazekiri up the silver haired man's…

Speaking of the kazekiri, Naruto was in nowhere near achieving the completion of the technique. He managed to create the first rotation around his wrist, but that alone cost him 200 clones in three days. Seeing that said amount covered for at least 600 days, Naruto gulped at the feeling of doing in three days what he would do in almost two years. Any attempts on forming the second rotation were shot down the toilet simply because Naruto had to create the second and focus on the first one as well. After a lot of complaining, Aoi and Kakashi managed to stabilize the blond by saying that next week; all three would either improve the technique or try it in a different way.

Now back to the meditation, once Naruto managed to attain such level of concentration, he wasn't even paying attention to the number of jutsus being cast in front of him, seeing that he now knew that those weren't aimed at him. Aoi told him that in this level, Naruto's analytical abilities would rise ten fold since the blond would, then, be able to focus on more than one issue at a time, thus, being able to establish the best strategy or the best course of action. Kakashi also warned Naruto that sometimes emotions and instincts can save a shinobi's life and his team as well to which Naruto nodded at the time, agreeing with the jounin.

After the completion of the exercise, Naruto got up and turned to inspect the damage made by Aoi and Kakashi's techniques. It took their loudest techniques and Naruto didn't even move a muscle, thus proving that he completed the exercise. Aoi smiled at the boy who was coming out nicely and still had one last week to train. "Nicely done, my boy. Now we move on the next and last week of your training. Our focus will be completing the kazekiri and I'll teach you my legacy" – Said Aoi smiling at the boy who in turn looked at Kakashi as in wondering what the man was talking about to which Kakashi turned to respond. "Aoi was famous in Iwa for being a master in iron manipulation" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto's face transformed to astonished in seconds.

"Do not worry my boy, when you reach a level of doton manipulation, iron is the last part and I intend to teach you how. In the end of the week, you'll learn the technique that managed to hold an entire battalion of Konoha-nins at the Third Shinobi War" – Said Aoi to which Kakashi's eyes were wide in realization and Naruto caught such reaction. "They were rumors that a iron wall was lifted around a specific gate of Iwa one day, stopping one of our troops to invade Iwa. However, when the Yondaime's troops reached that location, the wall was gone. That was a jutsu?" – Asked Kakashi, now feeling a higher sense of respect for the ex-iwa Shinobi.

"You bet it was. It is my masterpiece called **Doton Tetsu Toride **(Earth Release: Iron Fortress Jutsu). Let me tell you, though, that day I was sent to the hospital from chakra exhaustion from how long I held the wall. You, on the other hand, Naruto, have the chakra capacity to maintain the wall for longer periods of time" – Said Aoi while smiling with pride upon finally being able to pass on his legacy. Naruto for his part, was still stunned. The thought of being able to learn such an art was foreign to him, at least at this point in life. Now hearing that he would learn it in a week's time, he was ecstatic to say the least.


	14. First Encounter

**Chapter 14 – First Encounter**

On his last week of training, Naruto and co. were found near the lake where all started. Aoi and Kakashi were watching as Naruto closed his eyes and focused on controlling fuuton chakra in order to attempt the kazekiri. At one point, Naruto gave up on his theory to create four disks of wind along his wrist, stating that not only creating all of them, but also maintaining the rotation was nearly impossible. It was Kakashi, however, who came up with a solution to the problem. He stated that all Naruto had to do is focus on only one rotation and using the acceleration force to narrow the wind, thus giving it a pointy shape at the edge.

Upon hearing this, Naruto slapped his forehead and thanked his sensei. Truth be told, Naruto ended up complicating the technique and that in itself, was something even he was surprised. Suddenly, a wind rotation appeared on Naruto's wrist and then, he accelerated with his chakra. The rotation speed would need to be really high if he ever wanted to create an assassination jutsu. Once Naruto achieved the needed velocity, he focused come chakra to his legs and propelled himself towards the wooden dummy that was his target. Kakashi was seeing with his sharingan in hopes of studying the chakra manipulation and see if the drill shape would appear. Indeed as Naruto charged, the rotation began to narrow at the end, thus creating a true wind drill.

When Naruto hit the dummy, he was surprised to see that the technique managed to pierce the target as intended. Kakashi and Aoi came to inspect the damage, but both of them realized pretty much the same thing. Although the technique was deadly, the enemy could easily evade and perform a deadly counter-attack which could neutralize Naruto. Kakashi now understood why Naruto would only use this jutsu when he was sure the enemy wouldn't evade, however he was thrilled to see yet another creation coming from the blond chunnin.

"Well done Naruto. However, I'm sure you know the weakness of this jutsu. Therefore, it's safe to assume that you need to be sure that the enemy won't have the chance to fight back. Furthermore, now that you already mastered the kazekiri, it's time to teach you about iron manipulation. However, you first need to understand that this is extremely advanced doton manipulation, so you won't be using kage bunshins for this training" – Said Aoi, earning questioned looks from Naruto to which Aoi chose to clarify for the blond. "This form of manipulation will require you full attention and also all your chakra control. Don't worry, though, once you learned all there is to know about iron manipulation, you'll be able to use kage bunshins for practice reasons" – Explained Aoi to which Naruto nodded.

* * *

**---In Wave Country---**

Team 8 and Anko were all happy to know that their mission was finally reaching its peek; therefore it wouldn't take too long to finish. All of them were eager to go back to their village and be able to rest for a while. Being constantly on edge for a whole month proved to be quite a challenge for the Konoha-nins and they hoped to return. They knew about the large vacation after a month time mission and were imagining all the stuff they could do. Anko was imagining more in terms of having her way with Naruto in bed which involved a rope, handcuffs and some dirty clothes. Kurenai, of course, missed her beloved Asuma more than anything, but the thing she longed for was just resting at the hot springs.

The rest of the team longed only to see their friends and family and also get to rest a bit before their next mission. Right now, they were heading to the last bandit camp which was located near the bridge that linked Fire to Wave Country. This camp was the last one remaining of the bandit group that tried taking over Wave Country, hence the fact that it houses the toughest bandits there is. However, it was common knowledge that even the toughest bandit couldn't beat a chunnin ninja. Reaching the camp in record time, Shino began the assault by sending his kikaichu bugs in order to take out as much enemies as possible before they arrive and take care of the rest.

Once that was done, Kiba and Akamaru did a **Gatsuuga** (Double Piercing Fang) and pretty much leveled the place, taking another bunch of criminals. After that, the rest of the group took all the rest without much effort, thus ending the menace against Wave Country. However, seeing as their mission also involved restoring Wave Country after the attack, the group still had to stay and help the workers rebuild the damaged houses.

* * *

**---In Konoha---**

Back with Naruto, he was kneeling on the ground and landing his right hand as well. According to Aoi's explanation, in order to achieve iron manipulation, Naruto had to focus on doton chakra and feel the minerals that are located below the ground. The concept was pretty vague for Naruto and Aoi laughed at it, acknowledging that it is indeed vague information. Aoi, however, told the blond that in order to achieve this level of manipulation, he would need to sense the minerals that are located within the earth and merge them with the earth, thus creating iron.

It was already the second day of the week, with the first being spent on mastering the kazekiri, therefore Naruto only had five more days to master iron manipulation, even though Aoi clarified that the objective wasn't to master such manipulation. Instead, the man said that the goal was to know the theory behind it and be able to perform an advanced version of the earth wall, called **Doton Tetsuheki** **no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Iron Barrier Jutsu). Naruto was focusing on the earth below him, however so far he couldn't feel anything other than earth and he knew this was a tough challenge.

At the end of the day, Naruto was exhausted from focusing so much on chakra control and he couldn't even feel the minerals that are located within the earth. Venting his frustration at his teachers, he was even angrier when Kakashi gave that trademark smile and Aoi just laughed out loud at the chunnin's outburst. It took a rasengan formation to tell them Naruto was serious. Aoi was the first to interrupt him. "We were joking Naruto, stop the Rasengan. Now, this was your first day tying. Tomorrow, you'll do much better. Just remember the meditation exercises that we practiced and you'll do just fine. Rest and we'll see here tomorrow" – Said Aoi to which Naruto grumbled some incoherent words that sounded more like 'kill slave-driver', earning laughter from Aoi.

Naruto was exhausted and visibly cursing himself from not being able to complete the exercise. However, Uzumaki Naruto wasn't known for quitting so easily and vowed to get the exercise. Looking at the time and hearing his stomach complaining, he sighed and changed his course towards the ramen stand. Upon arrival, he was surprised to see Team 10 eating there as well. As he approached the stand, he greeted all of his friends, getting replies from Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma. Ino, however, rolled her eyes and not uttered a word, clearly demonstrating that she was mad about something.

Naruto, upon seeing this reaction, instead of asking what was wrong, shrugged it off and took the last seat available, earning a snarl from Ino who, even though was pissed at the blond from what he and Anko did to her, was only waiting for him to ask her so that she could begin the assault. However, seeing that Naruto wasn't even paying attention to her, instead, talking to the waitress, she exploded. "Ah Naruto, you don't want to know why I'm so mad? It's because of you by the way" – Shouted Ino, earning the attention of the other blond.

"Don't need to; you'll end up telling me eventually. Ayame-chan I would like some miso ramen, please" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Ayame as well as a look of irritation from the blond Yamanaka. The remnants of the group were now sweating profusely and silently cursing Naruto from enraging Ino. Speaking of said blonde, a vein popped on her forehead and she couldn't handle it anymore. "I'll tell you baka. I'm mad at both you and that Anko from what guys did to me at the park the other day" – Shouted Ino to which Naruto smiled in a devious way that suddenly warned all the team of the impending doom. "If I recall correctly, Ino; you were the one who used your clan's jutsu on my clone in the first place. I just defended myself" – Said Naruto as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Shikamaru was mumbling troublesome blonds all the time and Chouji was eating his chips faster and faster in anticipation. Asuma, on the other hand, laughed at the idea of Kakashi's lazy attitude rubbing off on Naruto. However, he needed to change the subject fast or else Ino would lose control soon. "Tell me Naruto, how it's Aoi as a teacher. I heard about your training mission" – Asked Asuma, before smiling when all his team became interested at the subject. Naruto for his part smiled, but this time, was genuine and replied. "The man is a slave-driver that's for sure. His method, albeit physically exhaustive, produces some fine results. Right now, he's teaching me advanced methods of doton manipulation" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Asuma who knew about the man's reputation as an S ranked shinobi.

"Doton manipulation? I wasn't aware that you had a doton affinity" – Asked Ino, now completely forgotten of the first subject to which Naruto smiled at the sudden pick of interest. "My affinities are fuuton and suiton. I just happen to have knowledge on doton techniques. Aoi-sensei was considered a master in doton manipulation back in Iwa, so he chose to pass his knowledge to me to whom I'm very grateful just to be picked" – Smiled Naruto, earning nods of approval by team 10.

Team 10 and Naruto continued to chat a little bit about missions and some techniques until Naruto said his goodbye in order to save some energy for tomorrow. After he left, Ino suddenly remembered what she was mad about, but he was already gone. "I don't believe the nerve of that guy. He totally ignored me in favor of telling about some jutsus" – Mumbled Ino to which Shikamaru sighed, mumbling the troublesome word. "Ino, even though it's troublesome, indeed it was you who tried to enter his head with the **shintenshin**." – Said Shikamaru, earning a snarl from Ino and then her turning her head as in not wanting to talk to Shikamaru, making Shikamaru sigh in defeat at troublesome blonds.

With Naruto, he smiled upon getting another chance in teasing Ino. Even though he was now more reserved, his prankster side still manifests sometimes, making him want to provoke someone just like when he jokes with Kakashi, Ino and even the Hokage at times. Some would say that when he got older, this 'dark' side of him would eventually diminish, however seeing that his girlfriend is also a prankster in heart, both of them did trade some tactics involving performing pranks on other people and then laugh while sharing their experience. Naruto remembered how much Anko laughed after teasing Ino at the park that day and he couldn't wait for Anko to arrive so that he told her of yet another teasing. Quickly arriving at his apartment, he just took off his clothes and fell on top of the bed, thus letting gravity runs its course.

* * *

**---On the next day---**

Waking up, Naruto dressed up and left his apartment. However, just before he closed the door, he sensed a familiar presence near him. Suddenly, however, this presence appeared in front of the blond before quickly swinging his sword and attacking Naruto who in turn defended just in time. "It's good to see you Rikimaru-san. How is it going?" – Asked Naruto to which the Anbu nodded and took off his mask. "I'm fine Naruto-san. Good defense by the way, it seems you improved your kenjutsu style" – Said Rikimaru to which Naruto smiled and nodded.

"I've been practicing a lot with Aoi-sensei which remind me that I have to go or I'll be late, see you later Rikimaru-san" – Said Naruto after jumping towards the next building when he heard Shikamaru returning the gesture. Now charging towards the designated location, Naruto was contemplating on his exercise and wondered how he could finish it.

Arriving at the designated spot, Naruto's alert sense began tingling like crazy. Channeling chakra to his ear, his eyes widened as he heard the names of **Doton Doryuudan no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Mud Dragon Projectile Jutsu) and **Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu **(Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile Jutsu). Not having enough space to evade both techniques which were approaching the blond, he began his sequence of hand seals for **Doton Doryuuheki no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Mud Wall Jutsu) and spit mud from his mouth. Just when the jutsus were about to collide, a huge wall of mud appeared in front, blocking both attacks, thus saving the blonde for a moment.

However, Naruto knew the attacks weren't over simply because none of his teachers appeared calling out his name. Suddenly, the earth around him began to shake violently, making Naruto almost lose his footing, thus having to jump. He cursed his course of action, though, simply because he saw Kakashi making some hand seals only waiting for him to land. True to Naruto's worries, right after he landed on the ground, Kakashi shouted **Raiton Rakurai no Jutsu **(Lightning Release: Thunderbolt Jutsu) and immediately, a bolt of lightning went straight to Naruto. The blond for his part, focused some fuuton chakra and quickly dished to the right, thus evading the lightning. Not wanting to be on defensive, Naruto quickly hid himself under ground.

Seeing that the ground stopped shaking, Naruto left the premises and appeared behind a tree where he quickly focused on devising a plan of action. However, the blond didn't even have time when he heard Aoi yelling **Doton Yurasu Yassha **(Earth Release: Rock Catapult Jutsu) and then numbers of rocks filled the sky and then fell directly where Naruto was hiding, earning a couple of curses from the blond who couldn't do anything but defend himself. Summoning some kage bunshins, Naruto sent them to attack his teachers and try to find their location. His plan was to begin the hand seals sequence and wait for his kage bunshin to be dispelled so that he could attack one of them or even both at the same time.

Immediately choosing a jutsu which required long sequence, Naruto began molding the necessary chakra in anticipation for when the bunshin is dispelled. When the information of Kakashi's whereabouts came to his mind, he turned to said direction and released his called **Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **(Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu). Kakashi was taken by surprise when the Naruto he attacked was just a clone when suddenly a tornado came charging at him and hitting him dead on, setting the man flying. While flying, Kakashi saw that he would bump his head on a tree if he didn't escape the tornado's grasp. Therefore, he made a quick kawarimi and in his place, remained a tree log.

Still positioned for an attack, Naruto was surprised to see Aoi applauding on his choice of strategy. "Wonderful my boy; for a second there, I thought you only knew how to defend, but your kage bunshin was a splendid technique and took Kakashi by surprise as well" – Said Aoi before Kakashi appearing by his side with a smile on his face. Naruto, for his part, wasn't so thrilled. "What the hell was that all about? You said that in order to complete this exercise, full attention was needed. And now you attack me all of sudden" – Shouted Naruto, but before any of them responded, Naruto heard a voice from far. "You can blame me for this little test Naruto" – Said Tsunade accompanied by Jiraya and Shizune.

Turning to see the hokage, Naruto relaxed a little bit before hearing the hokage speak once again. "This is the last week of your training mission and I wanted to gauge your growth myself, hence why I asked them to test you. It seems that you've grown a lot since I last seen you fighting. Furthermore, since you succeeded in this mission, that means that you are now eligible for applying for the jounin exam" – Said Tsunade, before smiling upon seeing Naruto's eyes grew wider. Naruto was humble enough to admit that he was nowhere near jounin level and seeing the hokage telling him that he could apply for the jounin exam, made him hesitant in a way.

"Neji was the first to reach the rank and now you will be the next, congratulations" – Said Tsunade, smiling but stopped when she saw that the chunnin was in deep thinking for a while. While Naruto knew he maybe was able to hold a fight against a low level jounin but it's another thing entirely when it comes to his leading skills. Besides, he was due to complete the necessary 20 missions to be able to pass and so far, he only performed 12. "Tsunade-sama, I still didn't perform the actual number of missions required to pass. Also, I don't believe I'm capable of leading a group" – Said Naruto to which Tsunade smiled even more.

"I know for a fact that you still 8 missions short from completing the necessary; however the Anbu chief told me that he managed to fill all the necessary positions so it will take a while to become a part of Anbu. However, you could very well become a jounin, even if you believe you aren't ready yet. Do not worry about leading quite yet, normally we only put mid to high level jounin as leaders. You'll be participating in much tougher missions together with fellow jounins and high level chunnins. After hearing Tsunade explaining, Naruto was in deep thinking once again. Maybe was just the rush of events that happened in his life since he decided to change or was the fact that he didn't believe himself to be Jounin level. Either way, he was reluctant to take the exams. Kakashi watched his student with apprehension. The lazy jounin was now wondering about how much opposite were Naruto and Sasuke. The Uchiha would be all arrogant, saying that he deserved the position and maybe even more. Naruto on the other hand, was either mature enough to recognize his weaknesses or he was way too modest and did not believe in his abilities.

Aoi for his part knew that Naruto was jounin material even before he began training the boy. The ex-iwa ninja remembered his fight with the blond almost two months ago and also remembered being on equal terms even if Aoi wasn't going full-out. However, the man understood Naruto's apprehension, simply because the same thing happened to him as well. Aoi was considered way too modest amongst his peers, up to the point of not knowing how to take complements from the Tsushikage. The rest of the present thought that the blond would jump and shout in happiness at having the chance to be promoted to jounin in less than an year after becoming a chunnin, however Jiraya didn't stay long enough to see the new Naruto and Shizune still thought that Naruto wanted to become hokage. Needless to say both of them were somewhat saddened to see Naruto not being….Naruto anymore.

"Naruto, tell me what's bothering you? There is more to this wondering than an eventual lack of leadership in future missions" – Asked Kakashi to which Naruto nodded at his sensei and smiled upon seeing Kakashi's well trained deductive skills. "The thing is…it all happened so fast and I'm still getting in terms with it all. After my promotion to chunnin, I've been doing missions non-stop, training non-stop. And now, there is the jounin position available for me and I'm still due to complete a year as chunnin. I guess I just feels I'm not capable yet to become a jounin like Kakashi-sensei or Anko-chan" – Mumbled Naruto, making everyone except from Aoi, look at him as in he was someone else entirely. Everyone knew by now, that the blond change one hundred percent, however as to today, Naruto never went back on his nindo which was to never give up no matter what. All of them saw how optimistic the blond was and now seeing he doesn't believing in his capabilities was…well…frightening to say the least.

Tsunade thought about what she could do to raise the man's opinion of himself until she remembered the scroll she brought with her. "Naruto, being modest isn't fitting for a shinobi. If you don't believe you're capable, then no one will. Now, I brought this scroll here which contains all your shinobi data. In here, you'll find all your abilities and personal information such as chakra affinities and level rank. Now, would you please read out loud which level you are in right now" – Asked Tsunade to which Naruto mumbled "mid-level jounin" and then turned to look at the blonde hokage for her point in all of this. "Tsunade-sama, even though I have mastery over two elements and ability over kenjutsu, my mission records is lower than any chunnin in Konoha, let alone a jounin" – Said Naruto to which Tsunade nodded actually agreeing with the blond, however Naruto's statement only happened because he spent three years training away from the village.

"Naruto, in quantity, you're right. Yes, all chunnins in Konoha performed at least the double of C ranked missions. However, very few chunnins managed to perform 12 missions between B and A ranked in less than a year. Plus the fact that you travelled for three years for training, so it's safe to say that should you've stayed, your number of missions would be much higher than you are now. Remember that A and B ranked missions are for jounins and high level chunnins as well. Therefore, seeing that you succeeded in jounin-level missions is proof enough that you're capable for the jounin promotion" – Said Tsunade smiling proudly at the blond who in turn, looked at her and smiled.

Kakashi thought about something that could convince Naruto to take the test and used it. "Imagine what would Anko say when she hear that you didn't take the jounin exam because you felt you're not capable" – Said Kakashi with a sinister smile on his face, showing Naruto that if Anko didn't find out, he would be glad to talk to her. Naruto for his part snorted at his sensei for using such leverage against him and turned to think. Of course, Anko would first kick his ass all the way to Iwa for even thinking in not attending the jounin exam. Naruto loved his girlfriend, but he also knew that Anko has a wilder side that no one, save for him, ever saw and trembled just from remembering the last time Anko exploded when he told her that he was too tired from a mission to have sex. "Surely, she would tear me apart easily. Ok, fine I'll take the exam; this isn't over, though Kakashi-sensei. You dare use Anko for leverage and now you gave me an open opportunity to cause you extreme 'pain' if you know what I mean…." – Whispered Naruto, making Kakashi flinch at Naruto's insinuation.

"You wouldn't…." – Said Kakashi, barely able to think of his precious collection being turned to shreds by a sudden typhoon that happen to form just inside Kakashi's apartment. Meanwhile, others were gauging what student and sensei were talking about until the saw Naruto's devious grin and Kakashi's frightening stare which meant only one thing, Naruto destroying Kakashi's Icha Icha collection. Jiraya, of course, objected severely, since Kakashi was the president of the so called Icha Icha's fan group. The rest smiled a bit before Tsunade changing the subject and approaching the blond. "Although that would be splendid…… (Kakashi screaming) ……we need to take care of the formalities. First of all, since you have knowledge in three elements, you have to choose two for a demonstration. Which one will be?" – Asked Tsunade to which Naruto promptly answered saying he picked fuuton and doton.

Nodding at the blonds' choice, Tsunade ushered Shizune to write Naruto's choice and then proceeded with the choice regarding close combat fighting (taijutsu or kenjutsu). Naruto, of course, chose Kenjutsu before seeing Tsunade smirking deviously at the blond, making him ask her why she was smiling. "Oh nothing, I just wished you could pick taijutsu instead, it would be easier. You'll be facing an opponent in straight kenjutsu battle with our Anbu swords master; I can assure you that she'll give you trouble. Your exam will be in two days after your training mission is done" – Said Tsunade to which Naruto ignore the comment about his opponent and just nodded.

After seeing everyone leaving, except for Kakashi and Aoi, Naruto turned to Aoi in order to continue his iron manipulation training. Kakashi, however, chose to tell Naruto about who would be his opponent. "Naruto, although I do believe you'll be just fine in the exams, I feel that as your sensei, you'll need to look out against Yuugao" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto looked at him, asking who is this Yuugao person to which Kakashi responded. "Yuugao was a part of my Anbu team when I was Anbu captain. With Hayate's death, she became the kenjutsu master of Konoha. Do please watch out and don't even think of lowering your defenses because she'll take the opportunity even it is just for a second" – Advised Kakashi to which Naruto smiled and then turned to Aoi to begin his training.

"We'll worry about the exam in due time, now let's proceed from where you finished yesterday, Naruto. Land your hand on the ground and close your eyes. This time, you must feel the iron minerals from the earth itself and isolate it. After that, we'll start applying such element to regular doton techniques, thus attempting to perform **Doton Tetsuheki** **no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Iron Barrier Jutsu)" – Said Aoi to which Naruto nodded while displaying a determined face and then landing his hand on the ground. Closing his eyes, he began focusing on regular doton chakra, which allowed him control over the earth element; however he was still due to finding the iron minerals. However, Naruto had the feeling that unlike yesterday, something was different. He couldn't describe it, though; the presence he was sensing was much heavier than earth.

While Naruto was doing it, Aoi asked Kakashi to see with his sharingan and describe how Naruto is molding chakra. Complying, Kakashi described that although it looked like doton, was something else. Aoi, after hearing this, smiled at the blond who managed to find the minerals in only two days. "Naruto, from what Kakashi told me, you managed to find it, now all you have to do is use these minerals and apply them to doton techniques. Let's see if you really managed the exercise. Use the minerals and transform this rock here into iron rock" – Ordered Aoi to which Naruto nodded and get to work. Feeling the minerals yet again, Naruto managed to channel it through the stone, changing it entirely, transforming regular into an iron rock.

"Well done my boy, now rest up and we'll continue with iron manipulation tomorrow. Now, I just wanted you to see if you can use wind manipulation to control projectiles. In my days, I saw suna ninja making shurikens and kunais rotate around him and then throw at the opponent with much more strength and speed. Correct me if I'm wrong Kakashi, but I believe is called **Fuuton Kaiten Shuriken **(Wind Release: Rotating Shuriken Jutsu)" – Said Aoi as he was resting his hand on his chin, in deep thinking. However, what neither Kakashi nor Naruto knew is that said technique caused a lot of trouble for him in the past and the fact was that he wanted Naruto to learn so that he could has the chance to beat it. After hearing about such a possibility, Naruto was ecstatic. Controlling shurikens and kunais with fuuton chakra seemed impossible at first, but now Naruto was sure he could do it if he tried hard enough.

* * *

**---Somewhere in Fire Country---**

Travelling slowly towards Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke was wearing the same clothes as Kabuto when he had to hide his appearance. He left Otogakure one week ago in order to test his strength against the one he had been fighting all his life. When both graduated and entered the same team, Naruto was clearly not fit for being a ninja. He was brash, loud and no skills whatsoever. However, as the time passed, Naruto's abilities seemed to grow sky rocketed up to the point of beating Sasuke if it weren't for the curse seal that Orochimaru gave him.

Although Sasuke did win the battle at the valley of the end, the Uchiha knew that if he didn't have the power of the cursed seal, Naruto would have won and taken him back to Konoha just like he said he would. Three years later, when Naruto appeared and couldn't move a single muscle against Sasuke, the Uchiha, although stoic at the time, felt like he grew much stronger than Naruto could ever hope to become and that thought alone earned a smile on his face. The relationship between the two were purely rivalry, therefore Sasuke felt something strange when he beat Naruto. It was different than beating other opponents, though. Of course, beating a rival was way better than beating some stranger he didn't know.

Remembering the time when Orochimaru said that because of the over-usage of Kyuubi's chakra, at the last time they faced each other, Naruto was barely able to stand. That thought alone sent Sasuke's pride to the ground. Beating Naruto was considered a victory to Sasuke; however upon knowing that the blond couldn't even stand on his two feet, Sasuke became now eager to fight the blond on equal terms.

Truth be told, Naruto was responsible for all of Sasuke's changes. Sasuke's sharingan appeared when he and Naruto were fighting the fake hunter-nin Haku. After that, it was during Sasuke's fight with Naruto at the valley of the end that the sharingan was fully developed (three black tomoe). It was because of Naruto growing so much that moved Sasuke to leave the village. Now, he would face Naruto one more time and although he wanted to say that this would be the last time, he knew better not to. He knew how obnoxious Naruto was and he also knew that no matter what happened, the blond would always return and try convincing him to come back.

Stopping for a little while to eat, Sasuke was still a week away from Konoha. He could go much faster, but he wanted to save his chakra for the fight. It wouldn't do any good to underestimate Naruto and end up wasting all his chakra, giving them the opportunity to capture him. Sasuke was caught wondering about which could be Naruto's abilities. So far, Naruto only showed two jutsus in front of the Uchiha, those being the rasengan and kage bunshin. Although both were extremely powerful, Sasuke knew that Naruto over used them up to the point of being pitiful to watch.

* * *

**---One week later---**

Speeding through the necessary hand seals, Naruto then, slammed both hands on the ground and screamed. "**Doton Tetsuheki no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Iron Barrier Jutsu)". Instantly, a huge iron wall appeared in front of him much to Aoi and Kakashi's delight out of seeing Naruto being able to conclude iron manipulation. However, one final test was needed. "Kakashi, would you please test the wall to see if it's resistant" – Asked Aoi to which Kakashi nodded and proceeded with the sequence of hand seals and then gathered some air. "**Katon Karyuu Endan **(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile Jutsu).

Suddenly, the white fire stream got in contact with the iron wall, making a huge noise. After the smoke died, Aoi smiled upon seeing the wall still intact after receiving Konoha's strongest katon ninjutsu. "Ok Naruto, since this is the last day of our mission, I'm glad to say that you surpassed all my expectations. You managed to learn iron manipulation and were able to create a couple of jutsus of your own. Not to mention that your kenjutsu grew up exponentially. I believe that you are more than ready for the jounin exams" – Said Aoi while smiling at his blond pupil.

Kakashi was smiling as well since Naruto was his student as well. Naruto, in the end, managed to overcome his obstacles and now for the first time, Kakashi was proud of being called sensei for Team 7, even though Sasuke left to become a missing-nin. Naruto finished everything by appreciating both Aoi and Kakashi for training him and scheduled to meet them at the jounin exams.

After leaving, Naruto headed straight to his apartment to rest. This last week proved to be hell for him and he just wanted to do nothing for a while. After a while, he opened his door and took off his chunnin vest, resting it on his couch. Sensing something strange in the air, Naruto proceeded to his room before searching for the switch, turning the light on. What he saw next was as much unexpected as arousing at the same time because, there, lying on his bed, completely naked and posing in a extremely sensual way, was none other than his girlfriend Anko, apparently back from her long term mission from Wave Country.

Anko and Team 8 arrived two hours ago and heard from the Hokage that Naruto was just ending his training mission today; therefore he should be at home soon. Upon hearing this, the snake jounin smiled deviously and left the room via shunshin, much to Kurenai and Tsunade's dismay, since both of them knew about Anko's behavior and silently hoped that she wouldn't send Naruto to the hospital. She, then, went to his apartment and found the place where Naruto hides his key, which is below the little carpet in front of the door. Upon inside, she had the brilliant idea of surprising her lover by taking off her clothes and wait for him to arrive naked.

True to Anko's plan, Naruto was surprised upon seeing her figure lying on his bed naked. She was even more delighted when she saw her boyfriend's devious smirk that happen to send chills all over her body in anticipation. Without even muttering a word, Naruto just crawled on top of Anko and smashed his lips with hers, demonstrating just how much he missed her. While Naruto was taking care of kissing her, Anko was using her abilities to undress the chunnin as quickly as possible. Before the blond knew it, he was already naked and on top of his girl. "I missed you a lot Anko-chan. I want to show how much" – Said Naruto as he used his tongue, licking Anko's body very sexy, earning a longing moan from Anko.

The woman was gathering a large concentration of steam on her mission and thought about masturbating just so that she could blow off some of the steam. However, Anko was screaming in delight for not succumbing too early to temptation simply because Naruto's tongue was taking good care of this. Suddenly when Naruto reached Anko's womanhood, the woman couldn't control herself any longer. Oh how much she missed his tongue licking her inner walls like that. Anko was squeezing the mattresses for dear life and silently threat anything that stops this from becoming the best night she ever had.

Naruto was also having the time of his life. He grew accustomed to having sex with Anko up to the point of missing the noises she made when he pleasured her. Now, after hearing it again since one month ago, Naruto wanted to hear more, he wanted to pleasure her as much as possible. Naruto wasn't a pervert by any means, nonetheless there is little he could control when he heard Anko moaning. Back to Anko, she was now weightless. Regular stuff like breathing and gravity meant nothing to her. All that mattered was her boyfriend making her scream out of her mind. She really wanted more, she wanted this night to last forever, she wanted Naruto to possess her in ways that even Jiraya would be embarrassed in seeing. She wanted Naruto to use every bit of stamina he got and just screw her up in every possible way.

At this point, the couple didn't have a mind of their own anymore. Both of them were moved by pure hormones and being sure the other had as much pleasure as possible. That said, the couple took rotations; after Naruto blowing Anko, she began stroking his cock with both her mouth and her left hand, thus making Naruto moan and ask for more as Naruto accelerated the blowjob. Out of the blue, Naruto grabbed Anko with all his strength and flipped her over so that while she gave him a blowjob, he would blow her as well. Upon recovering control over her body, Anko noticed Naruto's maneuver and smiled at her boyfriend's creativity. This way, both could pleasure each other, therefore transforming this night into a memorable one.

The woman decided not to think so much and just let their feelings for each other conduct the act of making. So, she went back to sucking Naruto's cock while moaning at the same time from Naruto sucking her inner walls. However, she couldn't do these two things the same time simply because Naruto's tongue was making her moan so much that she was having trouble concentrating. Anko is loving each second of it up to the point of not being sure what she longed for the most. She wanted to feel him inside of her, however she also wanted his tongue to continue licking her. Plus the fact that she pretty much lost all control that any woman have and she was expecting to have an orgasm at any minute now.

Naruto for his part knew his girlfriend and also knew when it was time for her to cum. When Anko is about to have an orgasm, her inner walls would tighten around his member up to the point of hurting it, which consequentially, makes him cum as well from the pressure. Suddenly, the blond had an idea that could easily explode her inner walls. While licking her violently, Naruto reached two of his fingers and began massaging her clit very slowly, which made Anko suddenly lose focus on her eyes and lost her eyesight for a moment. And it was that moment that Anko ejaculated right on Naruto's face like a jet, before resting on bed, tired.

When she turned to see her boyfriend, she saw that his face was all covered with her cum and that alone turned her on again. She instantly jumped and started kissing Naruto fiercely while taking turns to lick his face, thus cleaning it from her cum, which she found that it really tasted like dango. Suddenly she whispered close to his ear. "_I want you…inside of me Naru-kun…" _Upon hearing that, Anko pushed the blond down so that he would be lying down. Then, she took his firm cock and placed it inside her cunt. A few seconds later, Naruto's member already filled every inch of her inner walls while she was riding it, moaning like crazy.

While Anko accelerated the pace, Naruto was getting even more aroused than he already was. Suddenly, he flipped her over and began sticking it in from behind while grabbing her hair and pushing it, filling her up with delight. Anko always loved when Naruto was rough with her, she longed for his member to reach the end of her pussy so much that she was practically repeating the words '_harder' and 'faster'. _Not being one to disobey, especially at this point, Naruto complied and intensified the love making. It didn't waste long until Anko were at her peak once again and Naruto was holding to dear life, so that he wouldn't cum inside of her.

When Naruto was about to have an orgasm, he screamed for her name and took it out much to the protest of Anko who even though didn't want to be pregnant, really longed for more of Naruto's cock. However, she wouldn't lose the opportunity of not being with Naruto for a whole month, so she began sucking every inch of Naruto's load while sucking his cock at the same time.

After the love making, Anko collapsed on her lover's chest, carrying a deep and comforting smile as if she just took a ton of bricks off her shoulder. Naruto waited a little while so that Anko woke up and then the couple began to talk about what happened this last month. Anko told Naruto about Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami and how much Naruto himself influenced them, making Naruto smile at the nostalgic feeling. Anko also told about Kurenai's team and how they interact with each other, also earning a smile from Naruto. Naruto knew that apart from his team which pretty much split up, the rest of the teams were united and had excellent teamwork.

Naruto told about meeting Aoi and then having the opportunity to train with an Iwa S ranked Anbu member. He told about the new jutsus he invented along with Aoi and Kakashi's help and even learned how to manipulate iron, much to Anko's jealousy since she longed to reach that level of doton manipulation. However when Naruto told about him taking the jounin exams in two days, Anko screamed in joy and pride that Naruto heard someone screaming outside. "Naruto, although I'm not complaining when you and Anko are together, doesn't mean you two have to shout" – Shouted Rikimaru from the wall, earning guilt face from Anko and a smiling Naruto who waved for Anko not to worry and screamed. "Sorry about that Rikimaru-san, have a good night….or…morning…hehehe".

* * *

**---The next day---**

The next day, the couple awaked to a knock on the door. When Naruto went to see who it was, he was surprised to see Rikimaru there waiting. "Good morning Rikimaru-san, how can I help you?" – Asked Naruto to which the Anbu member nodded and replied. "Well, I kind of forgot to shop for groceries yesterday and I don't have anything to eat back at home. Mind if I fix something? You kind of owe me for not letting me sleep at all last night" – Mumbled Rikimaru to which Naruto laughed and nodded for him to enter and fix whatever he wanted from the fridge.

While the Anbu member was eating something, Naruto and Anko dressed up and then appeared at the dining table to join Rikimaru. The man commended Naruto on finally becoming a jounin and appreciated the quick sandwich to which Naruto nodded and then accompanied Rikimaru to the door. When he closed the door, however, he heard a sound outside that resembled a kunai. Alarmed for enemies, Naruto opened the door only to see that was in fact a kunai but strapped to it, was a note. Taking the note and once again, closing the door, he took a sit near the table and opened the note, before narrowing his eyesight at what the note contained.

Anko, after seeing her lover being serious, took the note and read it, before understanding why Naruto was suddenly serious. "What are you going to do Naruto-kun?" – Asked Anko, silently hoping Naruto to make the right decision. Naruto for his part, wasn't angry at what the note contained. He long since that time, let it go and began focusing only on his ninja career. Naruto knew that he couldn't go alone. He wasn't a genin anymore and as a chunnin about to become a jounin, his act had repercussions. "Anko-chan, follow me, we're going to see one person and then communicate this to the hokage" – Said Naruto to which Anko smiled and then followed him as he charged towards said person's house.

Upon arrival and a couple punches at the door, Kakashi opened the door with a kunai in his hand with the promise of killing the one who thought it was a good idea to awake him at this time (this is Kakashi we're talking about, not that the Anbu captain Kakashi). When Kakashi saw Anko and a very serious Naruto, Kakashi knew that something was up. "Kakashi-sensei, we have a problem" – Said Naruto before handing the note to his sensei.

The lazy jounin didn't need time to contemplate what's written and he became serious as well. Naruto told Kakashi to dress up and follow them to the Hokage. Nodding, he went inside and began to change. In spite the situation, Kakashi applauded Naruto for communicating him and applauded even more when Naruto wanted to let the hokage know as well. Surely, he grew up in terms of responsibility.

* * *

**---At the Hokage's office---**

After the group (Kakashi, Naruto and Anko) entered inside Tsunade's office, they all came in terms with the fact that maybe she should take a vacation. Piles and piles of scrolls, almost on the verge of falling and the godaime hokage was found asleep on her desk. Sighing at having to wake her up, Naruto summoned a kage bunshin and told him to wake her up. The clone sighed once again and went to shake the hokage up a little, before meeting the same fate everyone whoever decided to wake her up suffered, her fist. Naruto really hated this part, simply because even though he wasn't the one who took the punch, the memory of almost having an internal bleeding was transferred to him, thus making him hold his stomach.

The hokage noticed the smoke produced from the kage bunshin and apologized upon seeing Naruto holding his stomach as if he was the one that took the blow. "Tsunade-sama, you should consider using kage bunshin in here and rest a little bit. Seriously, you'll end up killing someone" – Said Naruto, making Tsunade blink and blink again, trying to assimilate the idea. All the time she wasted while she could split the work at least three times, earning him much more time to rest and do stuff. She cursed the brat in front of her for not saying anything and she cursed herself from not thinking about this sooner.

"Dammit Naruto, you could've told me that before. Now, normally when you are here, it doesn't mean much, but seeing you with a Tokubetsu jounin and an elite jounin show me that something is up, what is it?" – Asked Tsunade to which Naruto moved forward and handled to her the note. "This note came attached to a kunai what stabbed through my door this morning" – Said Naruto and waited for Tsunade to read the note's content.

"This is serious Naruto. This could very well be a trap designed to lure you and eliminate you. It could also be from Akatsuki, why are you so sure it's from him?" – Asked Tsunade to which Naruto responded. "No one call me like that in a while. Also Itachi wouldn't resort to sending a note and lure the entire village's attention. That said, I'm sure this note was written by Uchiha Sasuke" – Explained Naruto to which Kakashi chose to give his explication. "Tsunade-sama, I've read it with my sharingan and was able to find traces of Sasuke's chakra which tells me that either he knew Naruto wouldn't notice or he didn't care if he attracted our attention, which I believe is the former" – Explained Kakashi, earning glance of slight irritation coming from Naruto whose abilities were diminished.

"Naruto, Sasuke doesn't know that you changed the way you did. He probably figured you'd appear by his side almost instantly. I'm sure he's wondering why you didn't show up yet. My strategy is to send me, Yamato and Rikimaru to stay hidden along the area in case Naruto needs help" – Said Kakashi before seeing Tsunade thinking for a while. "Kakashi, Rikimaru's team was sent on a mission towards Tanzaku Gai and won't return until tomorrow, however you and Yamato are free to go. This can't reach Sakura's ear, so the three of you will leave for a fake mission to fight an A ranked missing-nin that came from Kumo. Naruto, although it's no doubt you became ten times stronger than before, if Sasuke uses the curse seal, you cannot rely on Kyuubi's power to beat him" – Said Tsunade to which all present nodded and Naruto turned to Anko.

"Sorry Anko-chan, but I need to go. I know you just returned from your mission and…" – Said Naruto but was stopped when said woman shut him up with a deep kiss on the lips. "Don't worry, Naruto. I'm also proud at you for not charging blindly. I know that you long since forgotten about the broody bastard and you're only going because he's a treat to the village. I will say only one thing, though. If you lose the fight, you'll deal with me, got it mister" – Said Anko to which Naruto smiled and kissed Anko on her forehead, whispering 'I love you' so that only Anko would listen, earning a blushed face from Anko. "I love you too, Naruto-kun and you come back safe to me, you hear." – Said Anko to which Naruto nodded and then ushered Kakashi to leave with him as well, leaving Anko alone with Tsunade.

"Congratulations, Anko. I've never seen you so happy. Gaki must be quite a guy" – Said Tsunade to which Anko smiled slightly and nodded. "He is more than that, I'm afraid" – Said Anko, once again blushing before hearing Tsunade laughing upon seeing a woman in love. Anko, of course, snorted at the older woman who in turn apologized and said that she would never thought she would see Anko behave like this when it comes to a certain man. Anko, however still blushing, managed to discuss with the Hokage. "Tsunade-sama, I also came for another reason. I've come to know that Jiraya-sama is studying on removing the cursed seal for quite a while. Because of the way my relationship with Naruto is developing, I think it's better to remove it or set a much stronger restriction seal" – Said Anko to which Tsunade nodded.

"Although that man is a pervert, I can't take the fact that he is the best in the art of fuuinjutsu. I'll call him and see what he could do. I believe he will be able to extract yours, because unlike Sasuke, you didn't use your cursed seal, thus it didn't affect you much. However, the cursed seal is and always will be a sensitive subject, thus please don't raise your hopes up. Rest for a while Anko. You just returned from a month journey and Naruto will win this battle. Even if he doesn't, which I doubt it, Yamato and Kakashi will be there to help him as well as…" – Said Tsunade but Anko felt complied to finish the sentence. "…make sure Naruto doesn't use the fox" – Said Anko, earning a nod from Tsunade who in turn smiled at the woman's sharp thinking.

"Well Anko, I will call Jiraya to take a look at your seal, so when he arrives, I'll be sure to reach you" – Said Tsunade to which Anko nodded and then turned for the door. After closing the door, she left towards her apartment via shunshin. Appreciating some time alone, she wondered what Naruto would do to overcome the Curse Seal level two.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

Already gathered with Yamato, the group charged towards the place when Naruto and Sasuke fought for the last time. On the way, Yamato made some questions regarding the authenticity of the note as well as Naruto and Kakashi's reasons not to believe it's a trap. However when both Kakashi and Naruto gave their reasons, Yamato dismissed the issue. On the way, Kakashi explained the plan to Yamato which consisted of Yamato hiding inside one of the trees that surrounded the valley while Kakashi would stay a short distance away from the fight so that he would reach the place in case of an intervention. Therefore, Naruto was free to use the whole landscape and not be afraid of revealing his group's position.

After a while, the group stopped about ten miles from the place where Sasuke and Naruto should meet. Before Naruto left, Kakashi called him and reassure him. "Naruto, this will be your test to see if the training mission was really successful" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and appreciated the concern. His pace towards the place was calm and controlled. He didn't need to rush things…why should he? It was Sasuke who called him, not the other way around. Therefore, he just walked calmly, admiring the beautiful view that surrounded him. He learned to act this way by following Aoi's teachings and truth be told, he was enjoying every step of the way. When he arrived on top of the Shodaime, he saw the same figure standing on top of Uchiha Madara's statue. There he was Uchiha Sasuke, wearing a white blouse with the Uchiha symbol on his back, blue pants and the trademark rope tied around his waist.

Naruto was, as per usual, wearing the standard chunnin wear with his sword strapped on his back. Sasuke looked at Naruto and noticed something different with the blond. He of course noticed the outfit and concluded that he was promoted to chunnin. Also, Sasuke saw the sword strapped on his back and wondered if Naruto learned how to use it or was just showing off. However, what he noticed the most was the blond's impassivity to this whole event. Sasuke expected Naruto to come at him blabbering words about coming back to Konoha or don't fall trap to Orochimaru, however when Naruto came here walking without a care in the world, it unnerved Sasuke a little bit. His blood began to boil at the thought of the blond doesn't recognizing him as more than a threat.

Naruto, upon looking at Sasuke, smiled casually. Naruto was proud to say he didn't actually care what happened to the Uchiha. He noticed that Sasuke was clenching his teeth in anticipation or perhaps because Naruto didn't care less about fighting an Uchiha. "You took a while to get here dobe. I was expecting that you're stronger or faster than before, but seeing how long it took for you to get here, you must be tired" – Said Sasuke, though Naruto wouldn't take his smile away from his face. "I just felt like walking today, it's a lovely day after all" – Said Naruto while looking around him as in admiring his view.

Sasuke was becoming suspicious now because the Naruto in front of him was so calm and collected. Naruto, suddenly, turned to the Uchiha. "I'm in doubt about something and hopefully you could solve it. First, you tell me not to come and try rescuing you; now you come here yourself and reach for me. You need to settle your mind" – Smiled Naruto, upon seeing Sasuke snarling at his commentary. Sasuke didn't know what possessed Naruto to behave like this, but he knew something was definitely different with Naruto. However, Sasuke didn't come here to talk. Instantly, the sharingan was activated and in what could be described as blur, Sasuke appeared side by side with the blond who in turn, looked at Sasuke still with a smile on his face. "It's nice of you to drop by, Sasuke. How have you been since we last met" – Asked Naruto, silently enjoying the Uchiha's angry face after being mocked by Naruto.

"You dare mock me, I'll show you" – Said Sasuke before charging in with impressive speed with his kusanagi sword already in hand. Naruto picked up his own and defended Sasuke's slash that would've met the blond's neck. After defending, Naruto performed a swing kick, hitting Sasuke, sending him flying. However, Sasuke was unfazed and left a few feet away. The Uchiha was wondering why Naruto's sword didn't break from getting in contact against the kusanagi, until his sharingan caught active traces of fuuton chakra being channeled to the sword and smiled. "I was wondering how your sword managed to keep up with Kusanagi, but I realized you are a fuuton user so you're charging wind chakra and strengthening the blade. Not bad, however, let's see what other abilities" – Said Sasuke before jumping towards the river. Naruto smiled before making some hand seals for **Fuuton Kaze no Yaiba **(Wind Release: Wind Sword Jutsu). Just as Sasuke landed on top of the river, his sharingan saw Naruto's attack approaching and barely evaded, earning a scratch on his left cheek.

Looking up in rage at being attacked from behind, Sasuke felt the trace of fuuton chakra. Even though he was caught by surprise, he now knew the blond's abilities which by the way revolved around wind chakra. When Naruto landed on the water, Sasuke smirked and made some hand seals. **Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu**(Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu). From out of nowhere, a giant fireball charged towards Naruto who in turn simply stopped molding chakra through his feet and went under water and instantly swam far before the smoke dissipated. After the smoke dissipated, Sasuke began his search for Naruto. However when he turned to his left, he was suddenly hit by a powerful wind blast courtesy of Naruto's **Fuuton Daitoppa **(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu). While flying, Sasuke flipped his body and landed safely on the water. He once again looked at Naruto's direction and once again found traces of fuuton chakra all around the place.

Growing tired of this, Sasuke began using his cursed seal level one and then charged at Naruto's location with much more speed than before. Naruto, after seeing this, became serious and focused more chakra through his sword in order to withstand Sasuke's attack. Upon contact, the noise of the swords clashing reverberated throughout the valley. After, Naruto jumped backwards and channeled chakra through his feet, thus propelling him towards the Uchiha who in turn dodged in time thanks to the sharingan. Facing one another yet again, Naruto suddenly looked towards Sasuke's chin simply because he didn't want Sasuke from copying this jutsu. Speeding the sequence a bit for **Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **(Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu), Naruto attacked Sasuke who used his sword and chakra to his feet to stay put until the wind died. When the wind initiated, though, Sasuke noticed too late that instead of being like a normal hurricane, this one was spinning vertically, thus hitting him dead on the chest.

Seeing Sasuke getting up sent Naruto on edge. Sasuke was now focused on the kill and wouldn't stop at nothing until Naruto was dead. Therefore, Naruto would have to fight his style of fighting kenjutsu. Aoi and Rikimaru's style joined together with Naruto's **Fuuton Bakushin **(Wind Release: Wind Dash Jutsu). Charging once again, Sasuke and Naruto began a kenjutsu match worthy of high level jounin. Sasuke was considered for his high speed fighting and even Orochimaru himself had trouble keeping up, however even though Sasuke knew Naruto was using fuuton chakra, he didn't have the knowledge of how Naruto was using it to dodge his attacks. Also, it was thanks to the sharingan, that Sasuke was able to dodge Naruto's incoming attacks.

Reacting quickly, Naruto kicked Sasuke away from him and once again began the hand seals. "**Fuuton Kaze no Engai **(Wind Release: Wind Dome Jutsu)" – Said Naruto, before managing to trap Sasuke within the dome of wind. Sasuke saw the chakra molding but didn't react fast enough, causing him to fall for Naruto's trap. "Don't try anything Sasuke. There is fuuton chakra all around you; if you touch, you'll be sliced. Also, inside the dome, there isn't air to breathe as I'm sure you noticed. So, in case you don't want to suffocate to death, surrender and I'll stop the dome" – Said Naruto.

While the fight was going on, Sasuke was wondering when the hell did Naruto learned fuuton ninjutsu up to this level. He did techniques that Sasuke didn't even think was possible and now he was trapped inside one of Naruto's jutsus yet again and he couldn't do a thing. If he used katon ninjutsu, he would be dead and lightning are weak against wind, so he didn't have anything. Sighing in frustration, Sasuke didn't have a choice. Reverting on the curse seal yet again, Sasuke changed to his level two and used his wings to stop the wind dome around him and look at Naruto in order to cast a genjutsu at him. However, by doing this, Sasuke's eyes suddenly met with Naruto's changed eyes and became petrified. Even though with the curse seal level two, Sasuke felt the same way as Kakashi did when he looked at Naruto's eyes. He suddenly saw the very same blond using his sword and decapitating him multiple times.

The Uchiha wondered if Naruto learned to cast genjutsu just like he did, but he had the sharingan activated, so it couldn't be a genjutsu. Being that said, there was only one possible explanation for all of this, a doujutsu. Feeling the urge to fight, he couldn't. Meeting Naruto's eyes were actually the same as when his brother Itachi looked at him with the Mangenkyou Sharingan and it was safe to say that both of them were terrifying to say the least. For kami knows how long, Sasuke had nightmares about Itachi's evolved sharingan and now Naruto's stare were just as threatening as his brothers. Suddenly, Sasuke managed to see that Naruto moved slowly towards him with his stare which pretty much froze Sasuke in place. When Naruto appeared in front of Sasuke, the Uchiha was already hyperventilating from pure fear. It was not a normal fear, though. Sasuke for the first time felt like he was going to die. It was because of his state of mind, that Naruto used his sword and landed a hit on Sasuke's neck, thus rendering him unconscious.

Seconds later, Yamato and Kakashi appeared and grabbed Sasuke's unconscious body. Yamato, however, made a mistake and chose to look at Naruto before the blond had the chance to deactivate his new stare, which resulted in Yamato seeing exactly what Sasuke did. Kakashi sighed upon remembering about Naruto's eyes and explained everything to Yamato. The wood user was shocked at first, but when Naruto apologized it from not deactivating in time, Yamato waved him off, saying that he wouldn't want to be Naruto's enemy ever. Making Sasuke eat a wood pill that happen to stop the chakra flowing inside Sasuke's body, Yamato lifted the young Uchiha and all three of them headed back to Konoha.

On the way, Kakashi asked Naruto why he only used fuuton ninjutsu which earned a smile from Naruto. "The wind dome jutsu was my weapon against a fire/lightning user such as Sasuke. Also, if Sasuke saw me using more than one element, he would get all power hungry, thus, getting agitated. If he reached level two earlier, I wouldn't have the chance to beat him. Sasuke underestimated me and paid the price. Even though I didn't consider taking him back any more, it's safer for him to be locked down. This way, he won't be able to use either the curse seal or any chakra for that manner" – Said Naruto to which Kakashi nodded and looked forward. "You're right about one thing. Yes, is better for him to be locked down and I happen to concur with your choice of techniques. You showed wisdom in using the techniques you feel more comfortable using. Even though you have two affinities and knowledge on a third, your primary affinity is wind. Plus the fact that you embraced this element to your kenjutsu fighting, from what I've seen" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded.

"I have to talk to Rikimaru, though, fighting the kusanagi took a heavy blow on my sword and I was wondering If he knew how to fix it" – Said Naruto to which Kakashi nodded. "Oh I believe he knows the right guy for the job. Great work Naruto. You managed to be calm despite Sasuke's taunting and in the end, you managed to beat him, without succumbing to Kyuubi's chakra" – Praised Kakashi at his student who in turn, smiled and stepped up the pace back to Konoha.


	15. Aftermath

**Chapter 15 – ****Aftermath**

After the success of Sasuke's retrieval by Kakashi, Yamato and Naruto, all three decided to reach Konoha as fast as possible. They weren't sure if Orochimaru already knew of the results, but handing Sasuke to Ibiki was top priority right now. While Kakashi jumped, he looked at Naruto whose face remained stoic, showing the copy-cat that although Naruto managed to bring back Sasuke, the blond just couldn't care less. Because of his sharingan, he managed to watch the whole fight and upon seeing Naruto's kenjutsu style, Kakashi was truly amazed by it. Using fuuton chakra in order to propel his body, improved the blond's agility tenfold and with Aoi and Rikimaru's teachings, Naruto's attacks were both deadly and precise.

Another aspect of the fight was how much different Sasuke was from the usually stoic genin he knew which enforced the theory that the cursed seal ended up influencing the user's mind, thus making him an unstable person. He applauded the blond, though, for not only disabling the Uchiha's pathetic excuse for taunting, but also managed to use some of it against Sasuke so called pride. One last thing about the fight was how much Naruto's doujutsu affected Sasuke, seeing that Sasuke was already affected by Itachi's mangenkyou sharingan. That being said, Naruto's eyes could very well be an asset against either Akatsuki or against Orochimaru.

* * *

**---In Otogakure---**

Still oblivious to the loss of Sasuke by Naruto, Orochimaru was found smiling while sitting on his chair. In front of him, was a worried Kabuto. "Orochimaru-sama, do you think it was wise to send Sasuke alone to Konoha?" – Asked Kabuto to which Orochimaru did his favorite laugh and nodded. "Sasuke-kun cannot be defeated Kabuto. Also, he will manage to kill the Kyuubi brat once and for all. Trust me, Uzumaki Naruto will fall and he won't ruin my plans any longer. I can tell you, though, that he was very beneficial in taunting Sasuke. Ku ku ku, just the share mention of the blond's name and Sasuke was willing to do pretty much anything that resolved around surpassing him" – Laughed Orochimaru, thus making Kabuto laugh as well.

Sasuke, up to today, was able to beat everything both Orochimaru and Kabuto threw against him and surely Naruto wouldn't be able to land a hit on him. However, Kabuto wasn't considered Orochimaru's second in command for nothing and he was suspicious that maybe Naruto didn't face Sasuke alone. Kabuto knew that the blond would be stupid enough to charge Sasuke alone, however if someone like Hatake Kakashi managed to confront Sasuke as well, Kabuto wasn't sure if the Uchiha would be able to beat a shinobi of Kakashi's caliber. Being that said, Kabuto thought best of sending someone to see what's happening. It wouldn't do them good to lose Orochimaru's next vessel because of underestimation of Naruto's capabilities.

* * *

**---In Konoha---**

Upon arrival in Konoha, the group went straight to the Hokage's office where they would give the report. Naruto gave the idea of travelling through the rooftops in order to avoid rumors being spread before time to which the group nodded and jumped towards the roofs. Imagine what would happen if a fool or two of the council that favored Sasuke even if he betrayed the village, knew that he returned. It was safe to say that Sasuke's punishment would be strongly diminished all in favor of his lineage.

Still avoiding the rumors spreading, Yamato remained with Sasuke's body on top of a rooftop hidden by a genjutsu while Naruto and Kakashi went to the Hokage's room to report and call an Anbu team to arrest the Uchiha. Shunshining inside the office, Tsunade was surprised to see Kakashi and Naruto unscathed but no sign of Yamato anywhere. Kakashi, being the leader in rank, began. "Tsunade-sama, mission accomplished; Naruto managed to beat Sasuke, thus resulting in the final success of Sasuke's retrieval" – Said Kakashi to which Tsunade smiled and nodded.

"Please report Kakashi, Where is he and Yamato?" – Asked Tsunade to which Kakashi nodded. The copy-cat described the fight and how they managed to secure that Sasuke wouldn't be able to mold chakra by one of Yamato's wood pills. He also asked a team of Anbu to pick up Sasuke's body that Yamato is hiding via genjutsu to which the hokage nodded and summoned the requested team.

After successfully securing the traitor and taking him to Ibiki for questioning, the group assembled in front of the Hokage. "Congratulations all three of you. He was considered an A ranked missing-nin, thus you'll receive a payment according to his ransom. Now, due to the subject in hand, this will remain a secret until either myself or Kakashi due authorize. Since Anko knew about it as well, you can tell her Naruto, but be sure to explain that she can't tell a soul, otherwise our secret will be jeopardized" – Said Tsunade to which all nodded and then vanished.

* * *

**---Inside Anbu HQ (Torture and Interrogation Division) ---**

Slowly opening his eyes, Sasuke realized he wasn't at the valley of the end, thus concluding he was captured by Naruto. Sasuke was pissed at how much stronger Naruto became and bit his lower lip from anger both at himself and the blond from always being stronger than him. The Uchiha cursed Uzumaki's very existence and he cursed Kami for not giving him the power he deserved. Upon inspection to his surroundings, he realized that he was seating and that his hands were tied up by some sort of handcuffs. He also realized that escaping wouldn't be possible simply because he couldn't mold his chakra at all, which meant that he couldn't draw the power of the cursed seal.

Looking around him, he couldn't see anything, since the entire room was dark. Suddenly, a flashlight was turned on and sent enough light to temporarily blind the Uchiha. The voice that soon followed managed to send shivers down Sasuke's spine. "Uchiha Sasuke, you're now being submitted to full interrogation and will respond to any of my questions. I suggest you respond them accordingly" – Said Morino Ibiki as he made his appearance visible to the Uchiha. Sasuke, for his part, remembered the man when he took the chunnin exams and he was the proctor for the first exam.

"What will happen if I don't comply with what you're demanding of me"- Said Sasuke, purely out of curiosity and a little hint of defiance, earning a sinister laugh from Ibiki. "I strongly advise you not to. You can choose not to talk if you want to, but please bare in mind that I have enough methods to take the information out of you should I deem it necessary. However, should you chose not to comply, I can't guarantee your sanity afterwards" – Said Ibiki to which Sasuke swallowed slowly, realizing that this man could do much worse with him than anyone out there. However, Sasuke knew he was in Konoha, therefore his family name must grant him some advantage.

Upon voicing this to Ibiki, he was even more nervous when the man grinned and responded. "According to your file, you abandoned your citizen rights the moment you betrayed Konoha. Being that said, the Uchiha clan is no more" – Said Ibiki, earning a shout from Sasuke objecting severely to this. "I'm afraid you don't have a saying in this traitor. The hokage granted me with full authority to deal with you as I so wished, so I'll fulfill my duty and deal with you accordingly" – Said Ibiki as he went to a table nearby and grabbed a simple pen and paper. "Now I'll make the questions and you'll answer correctly. As an interrogator, I'm obligated to inform you that should you supply us with reliable information on Orochimaru's operations, your punishment will be reduced. Also please refrain from lying to me, cause if you do, not only will you receive a much tougher punishment, but also you will, herein, grant me full authorization to get the information by whatever mean I see fit and trust me; I know many" – Said Ibiki to which Sasuke nodded, seeing no other choice but to comply and hopefully receive a reduced punishment.

Sasuke was captured, that much was true. Even though he considered himself to be the elite of the shinobi simply because of whose blood run through his veins, Sasuke wasn't delusional to believe that any minute now someone would come and rescue him. Also without being able to mold chakra, thus not being able to activate the sharingan or the cursed seal, Sasuke didn't have any other choice but to comply with the man's terms, thus answering everything Ibiki asked nicely.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

After telling Anko of the fight, Naruto went to find his neighbor Rikimaru. Sasuke's sword was truly unbreakable and even with Naruto channeling fuuton chakra to his blade; it just wasn't enough to battle against the Kusanagi. Naruto could only imagine what would happen if his sword wasn't strong enough, thus shattering. He would be defenseless against Sasuke's quick and strong slashes. He needed a sword forged by a much stronger steel, thus being able to confront Orochimaru's kusanagi in the future. However, no matter how much Naruto tried to find Rikimaru, he just couldn't find him. He went to his apartment, the Anbu HQ, everywhere. Suddenly, Naruto felt his sensei Kakashi appear via shunshin, but he wasn't alone, though.

"Rikimaru-san, I've been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been?" – Asked Naruto to which the Anbu member apologized and said he was on a mission and just returned. "Kakashi-san here told me your sword was damaged after facing the kusanagi and you needed someone to fix it for you" – Said Rikimaru to which Naruto nodded. "Yes, although I was channeling fuuton chakra, Sasuke's sword ended up breaking mine, hence why I need it fixed" – Explained Naruto, earning a nod from the Anbu. Kakashi signaled both of them goodbye and Rikimaru asked Naruto to follow him since he knew of a person who would be able to help fix his sword. On the way, Naruto described his fight with Sasuke and the new kenjutsu style he created by fusing Rikimaru's style and Aoi's style as well as use the **Fuuton Bakushin no Jutsu **(Wind Release: Wind Dash Jutsu) for evasion purposes. Rikimaru acknowledged the blond's creation and explained that in order to be a kenjutsu master, one has to create his own style of fighting to which Naruto nodded and began to think of a name for his style.

Naruto's style was more focused on evading the enemy's attack using fuuton ninjutsu and, then, performing quick attacks, aiming the enemy's unguarded place of the body. However, he couldn't think of a proper name for it. Rikimaru laughed at the blond's apprehension towards his style's name and said that Naruto wouldn't need to focus on a name right now since first, for a style to be created; all of the user's katas would have to be created and documented within Konoha's files. "Well, although I don't have any new katas of my own, at least it was proved that this style managed to beat even a sharingan user so it's safe to say that would be efficient upon fighting someone without a doujutsu or kekkai genkai. When Rikimaru stopped in front of a simple two story house, Naruto turned to inspect the place. Truly, it wasn't something extraordinary but Naruto very well knew it wasn't nice to judge something based on appearances alone. Surely, he was a fine example to this theory.

Suddenly, though, Naruto felt a new presence arriving and looked to the slowly opening door in anticipation. When the door fully opened, a man emerged from the door. He seemed quite old despite the fact that he appeared to be a retired shinobi. "Naruto, please meet my father Aoshi. Tou-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto" – Said Rikimaru to which Naruto bowed in respect towards the man. Aoshi for his part hated such formal treatment, thus dismissing the formality and asking both of them to enter inside the house.

Upon inside, Aoshi inspected the sword for a minute or two. He inspected the place where the blade shattered and asked Naruto how it was broken in the first place. Naruto for his part responded that he faced the legendary kusanagi sword and even with fuuton chakra being channeled within the blade, it wasn't enough to contain the power of the Kusanagi. Aoshi nodded acknowledging the fact that the kusanagi was indeed almost unstoppable in a fight and commended Naruto on his fuuton ninjutsu usage. "Indeed, the kusanagi is one of the strongest metals there is, but there is only metal that matches that sword in strength and that is the metal used in Kiri in order to forge the sword used by the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. In that case, it's better for me to forge a new sword for you, young man. Even if we fixed yours, it wouldn't do so much before it broke again and such a thing can result in your death" – Said Aoshi to which Naruto sighed, seeing that he won't have a sword for the jounin exams.

"I appreciate it Aoshi-san, however I have my jounin exams in two days and I don't have a sword to use it" – Said Naruto as he sighed, because he would have to abort the exam because of the lack of a sword to use. Aoshi, however, started laughing out loud and said that two days are more than enough for him to complete Naruto's new sword, making the blond question the man about only needing two days. "Not that I doubt your abilities, Aoshi-san, but would you be able to forge a new sword for me in only two days?" – Asked Naruto to which Aoshi dismissed the blond's inquiry and asked. "Do not worry Naruto, I will only need to take some measures and contact my metal supplier in Kiri. By tomorrow, I'll have the steel with me and in two days, the new sword will be ready for you to use. Trust me; this sword will be my masterpiece. When you once again face the kusanagi, I doubt that your new sword won't be able to face it. It will cost you, though, this steel is very rare" – Said Aoshi to which Rikimaru slammed his hands on his mask, hearing his greedy father once again, but Naruto nodded and just asked him to name the price.

Aoshi wrote the amount into a shit of paper and handled to Naruto. The quantity was almost the same he received from capturing Sasuke, but if the man was speaking the truth, than it would be well spent money. "You have a deal Aoshi-san, I'll pay once the sword is ready, since I'm still due to collect the money from my last mission" – Said Naruto to which Aoshi nodded and then proceeded to take Naruto's measures. The sword's grip, the metal's length, everything had to be taken into account for Naruto's sword to be perfect. After the measures were taken, Naruto said goodbye to both father and son and left with the promise of returning in two days.

Walking around Konoha for a bit, Naruto was considering what to do now. He could check on some of his friends, but then again he didn't know if they were out of the village doing missions or not. Closing his eyes to think, Naruto suddenly remembered of a person he hasn't seen in a long time and that was his first sensei Iruka. Marching straight for the academy, the blond smiled upon finally get to see his first friend. Apart from the Sandaime who used to visit some time, Iruka was the only one who would spend some time with Naruto after the academy.

Upon arrival, he caught the familiar voice screaming for the students to do their homework and bring them tomorrow, bringing such a nostalgic feeling to Naruto. Naruto remembered Iruka screaming at him to stop playing around and now Naruto wondered if Iruka was proud of the person he became. Iruka for his part saw the ninja with blond hair and blue eyes looking at him and wondered why that face was so familiar. However, when the whisker marks became visible, Iruka showed a genuine smile and greeted Naruto who in turn greeted the teacher back.

As they walked towards the park, Naruto was telling Iruka about what caused a sudden change in behavior and how this decision improved his abilities greatly. Iruka was amazed at how much his peers would say about his favorite student and voiced his pride to the blond. After that, both of them remembered old times when Iruka would scream at Naruto when he used his Oiroke no Jutsu for the first time. "Naruto, you managed to grow up nicely, despite the many obstacles in your life and I couldn't be more proud of my favorite student" – Said Iruka to which Naruto nodded and appreciated the gesture. Truth be told, Naruto vowed to show all the people who believed in him, that he could grow up as a fine shinobi; Kakashi was the first and now Iruka acknowledged the blond for growing up as nicely as he did.

"Thanks a lot Iruka-sensei. It all happened so quickly that, sometimes, I'm afraid that I will wake up in the morning and realize that this was nothing more than a dream. Since I decided to train a lot, I managed to be promoted to chunnin and in less than a year, Tsunade-sama allowed me to take the jounin exams. It's just a little bit overwhelming" – Said Naruto to which Iruka nodded and grinned upon seeing Naruto apprehensive about something. "Not every shinobi is a genius Naruto, however not every genius gets to beat hard work and concentration. You and Rock Lee are fine examples to this fact. Lee is quickly surpassing Maito Gai in taijutsu, thus becoming Konoha's taijutsu specialist; you in little time managed to boost your career by purely hard work, thus allowing you to become a jounin" – Said Iruka to which Naruto nodded in acceptance.

"Naruto, I'll have to make a report at the academy, so I have to go. Since your exams are in a couple of days, use it to relax and do some light sparrings, so as not to lose it. You'll be fine at the jounin exams Naruto, just focus on your abilities and you'll do fine" – Said Iruka before leaving Naruto to see the sun going down in front of him. Thanks to Iruka, he knew what to do and that involved a nice relaxation period, probably filled with meditation near the waterfall.

* * *

**---With Tsunade---**

Looking at the report from Ibiki about Sasuke, Tsunade considered the fact that Sasuke spoke everything he knew of Orochimaru's intentions. Outside more experiments on the cursed seal, Sasuke didn't know much else. The info on Orochimaru wanting to kill Naruto wasn't news to the hokage; however the reason as to why he wanted Naruto dead did picked her curiosity. According to the Uchiha, Orochimaru is currently on a war against Akatsuki, tying to meddle their plan to capture all the bijous and If he killed Naruto, they wouldn't get the nine-tailed fox Kyuubi.

If she played this right, she could send those two to battle and kill each other or at least one of them is killed. Resting the report on the table, she got up from her chair and looked at Konoha. She still needed to decide which would be Sasuke's punishment because he did left the village. Although she knew the punishment would be diminished from the information he shared about Orochimaru, she also knew that his actions almost led at least three clan heirs to their grave, from having to fight agaisnt Orochimaru's elite guard. She knew that the punishment would have to satisfy the Nara, Hyuuga, Akimichi and Inuzuka clan simply because they never were satisfied with the Uchiha's defection.

She would have to call the clan heads and ask for their advice in how must be his punishment. She considered calling Naruto as well, seeing that he was involved in all affairs concerning Sasuke Uchiha, but somehow, she figured that the blond wouldn't bother lifting a finger both up and down for Sasuke. Naruto learned to set aside what happened in the past and changed it all, by cutting all ties with his former team. He didn't care one way or another, so it would be pointless to call him. However, she could call Sasuke's sensei Kakashi and hear what he has to say.

* * *

**---In Otogakure---**

Kabuto was seen walking towards Orochimaru's room. He was sweating in anticipation from the news he was about to give his leader. The person he sent to investigate brought perturbing news and Kabuto was in charge of delivering the terrible news to his master. Upon entering inside, he saw Orochimaru doing some experiments with some chemicals while smiling deviously. "Orochimaru-sama, I'm afraid I bring some bad news" – Said Kabuto to which Orochimaru ended the smile and turned to look at his second in command. He knew how terrible the news were when Kabuto spoke formally like that, so just waited patiently to hear what went wrong.

"Since Sasuke-kun was taking a while to return, I sent someone to go check what happened. He traced the chakra of the cursed seal towards the valley of the end and also sensed traces of high level fuuton chakra, however Sasuke wasn't near and neither was Naruto. Also, he wasn't able to sense Sasuke's chakra anymore, but he felt the presence with fuuton chakra returning to Konoha. Our spies in Konoha doesn't know of anything regarding Naruto leaving to fight Sasuke, but what are the possibilities of Naruto being able to capture Sasuke and the Hokage is keeping this subject a secret?" – Asked Kabuto before sensing a huge killer intent from Orochimaru.

The man was furious for two reasons: one, being that he felt Sasuke using the Cursed Seal Level two and that his senses died shortly after it was activated, which meant that something wrong happened and second is that Sasuke wouldn't flee seeing that he wanted power, so that could only mean that Konoha managed to capture Sasuke. Smashing his hands with fury, thus breaking the table in front of him, Orochimaru screamed for Kabuto to find his next vessel. After Kabuto left, Orochimaru snarled and thought about the presence of fuuton chakra. He knew that the Sarutobi clan was famous for bearing fuuton users, but he knew Asuma wouldn't battle Sasuke out of the blue, which meant that the damn blond once again meddled with his plans.

* * *

**---One day later---**

The sun rose the next day and Tsunade was seeing all four clan heads and Kakashi looking at her. They were already briefed of Naruto's success in capturing Sasuke from Kakashi's report on the fight. It was safe to say that Hiashi, Shikaku, Chouza and Tsume were impressed with Naruto being able to subdue the Cursed Seal Level two. "Now, since you've been breached on the situation, I called you all here to discuss Sasuke's punishment. Surprisingly, he supplied some valuable info on Orochimaru, therefore, diminishing his sentence" – Said Tsunade, opening the debate.

All of the people present remembered how their sons and nephew (in Hiashi's case) were almost killed because of Sasuke's actions. All of them knew that joining Orochimaru is considered to be high treason, thus resulting in death sentence, however since Sasuke supplied information about the snake and all of them were in favor of giving Sasuke a hard, but not impossible punishment. After a while of discussing, the group managed to reach a consent.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

_(Sounds of the waterfall)_

Closing his eyes, Naruto was meditating right in the middle of the lake. He began focusing on the noise of the waterfall and some birds singing at the forest near the lake. He already did some light sparring before and now he was just focusing on his inner self and how his chakra flows through his inner coils. Little did he know, however, that he was being observed? Neji was near the lake and saw the blond sitting on the lake in deep concentration.

Upon activating his byakugan, however, Neji found it strange that Naruto's chakra travelling around his inner coils like it was doing laps around the village. _Huh, what a strange way to manipulate chakra Naruto. Wonder what you intend with this?_ – Thought Neji as he kept observing Naruto's chakra as it flowed graciously inside his inner coils. Neji was surprised to see that Naruto managing to pass his chakra to all 361 tenketsus of his body in a synchronized pattern. Deactivating the byakugan, all Neji could now see was Naruto sitting on top of the lake with his eyes closed. What else surprised Neji, it was how peaceful the blond appeared as in he didn't have a care in the world.

Moments later, Neji's team arrived and asked what he was looking at. Tenten and Lee looked at the center of the lake and spotted Naruto with his eyes closed and wondered what he was doing. Their sensei Maito Gai smiled at the blond and explained to his youthful students about the art of meditation. "Observe my youthful students; Naruto right now is meditating. By closing his eyes and reaching a state of mind, Naruto is able to enhance his senses. Hearing; smell and touch are all enhanced upon reaching this state of meditation. You wouldn't be surprised right now if he knew we were here watching him" – Said Gai to which Tenten snorted her sensei in disbelief.

"I would listen to your sensei if I were you Tenten. By the way, you could lower your volume a little bit, I could hear you all the way from Iwa" – Said Naruto as he appeared out of the blue, making Tenten jump and land on top of Neji who had no choice but use his arms and hold Tenten, earning a blush from the two in response. Lee, on the other hand, was ecstatic and began screaming about how youthful Naruto is, as well as telling his sensei that if he didn't manage to reach that state in meditation he would run 10 laps around Konoha, earning a sigh from Neji and Tenten. Naruto, however, only smiled at the green spandex chunnin and how nice is the sensei/student relationship between him and Gai.

Neji, remembering a rumor he heard with some jounins, that Naruto was to apply at the jounin exams and questioned as to the veracity of the rumor to the blond. Naruto nodded, saying that the Hokage considered him capable of promote in rank once again, not only from ninjutsu but from some 'A' ranked missions he performed this year. Needless to say, Lee screamed once again about flames of youth, earning once again a nod and thumbs up from Gai. "Naruto, you happen to see Kakashi around? I've been meaning to challenge him to a new dual I've come up with" – Said Gai to which Naruto nodded in the negative, saying that after their mission together, he and Kakashi went separate ways and that he haven't seen him since.

Appreciating the help, Gai jumped towards the village to see if he could find his rival, thus all of his team following close behind, leaving Naruto alone in the training ground. Since he had a few more time before his jounin exams, Naruto decided to train some more of his iron manipulation. So far, he managed to perform the **Doton Tetsuheki no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Iron Barrier Jutsu), so he wanted to apply this technique to an offensive technique. Unfortunately, all earth based offensive attacks involved mud so iron manipulation would be out, however he saw once Aoi using a jutsu where he extracted a spear from the ground and threw at the opponent and if Naruto managed to use iron manipulation and extract an iron spear, than it would be able to pierce all defenses. His brain was focusing hard to remember the seals needed for this jutsu as well as mix some new hand seals for iron manipulation.

The process was very complex. Although iron manipulation was an advanced form of doton manipulation, it was obvious that Naruto needed to add more hand seals than the original technique. Naruto's brain processed a little bit and come up with two hand seals that happen to mold chakra in a similar way to when he managed to manipulate iron. Adding these new ones to the original sequence, the blond molded some chakra and extended his right arm. Although the ground opened what would normally happen prior to the spear appearing on the blond's hand, this time the only thing visible was the size of a stick and didn't even left the ground.

The only thing good about Naruto's first attempt was that the stick was forged with iron, so he at least managed the hand seals sequence right. Now it was just a matter of knowing the right amount of chakra needed for the technique to work perfectly. Seeing the size of the stick, Naruto found it extremely obvious that more chakra was needed so as to increase the size and create a spear. Initiating the sequence again, Naruto, this time, channeled more chakra than before and this time, the spear was formed, but he couldn't control it to be able to reach his hand. The blond snarled, but kept his rhythm and didn't give up. Naruto figured that since Aoi was a master of doton manipulation, the man knew how to transform earth based attacks into iron based attacks, but if Naruto managed to do this on his own, he wouldn't need help from him.

Concentrating even more this time, but with the same chakra quantity, Naruto went through the hand seals and screamed the name with enthusiasm. "**Doton Tetsuyari no Jutsu** (Earth Release: Iron Spear Jutsu)" – Screamed Naruto as the iron spear reached his hands just like the regular doton technique would. Thinking even further, more specifically, his created doton technique **Doton Supaiku Ouchi **(Earth Release: Spiked Pit Jutsu). Naruto was thinking of adding iron manipulation to the spikes that surround the pit. However, the blond needed to rest, so he called it a day and went back home.

* * *

**---With Sasuke---**

News of Sasuke's return to Konoha was still kept a secret by those who knew. The Uchiha was now located within Ibiki's special cell section for 'dangerous' criminals. The reason to this is also to keep his presence within Konoha's walls a secret. Looking at the four walls that surrounded the place, Sasuke could only sigh and wonder what would happen to him now that he was captured. He wasn't any way near reaching his goal to kill his brother and now that he betrayed Konoha for power, his fate rests in their hands. The Uchiha wasn't ignorant to believe that Konoha wouldn't punish him for what he did, even if they still urged for the Sharingan Doujutsu to bear children, which by the way, was his second goal after killing Itachi. Sasuke planned that once killing his brother, he would try returning on his free will to Konoha and start reviving his clan.

Sasuke answered all of Ibiki's questions in hope of not receiving a tougher punishment which could end his ninja career. He just hoped the information was enough because he couldn't think of other info about Orochimaru that Konoha didn't already know. Sighing once again in frustration from not being able to do anything, thus having to wait for his judgment, Sasuke recalled his fight with Naruto. No matter how many times he did this, he couldn't set his mind at ease with seeing Naruto becoming so strong like that. Before the fight, Sasuke presumed Naruto would fight using kage bunshin and rasengan, being that the only technique the blond knew until Sasuke vanished from Konoha. Also, Sasuke knew that the sannin Jiraya didn't teach him much, from information of Kabuto's spy. That being said, either Naruto trained alone or someone taught him how to manipulate wind, which Sasuke hoped it would be the last choice.

The idea of training alone and reaching that level of elemental manipulation was nothing short of amazing and Sasuke wondered if, given time, he could be on Naruto's level without Orochimaru's aid. Another thing that pretty much set Sasuke on edge was how strangely calm and reserved was his behavior. Where before Sasuke needed to protect his ears from the blond's never ending shouts, now Sasuke couldn't even hear the blond breathing which was amazing in itself. He remembered when he saw Naruto appearing at the clearance without a care in the world, saying he took a while to get to the Valley of the End because he decided to admire the beautiful day. Sasuke preferred to kill himself if he would voice this, but when he saw Naruto smiling upon looking around, the blond seemed to exhale so much peace and tranquility to the air around him. And that pissed the Uchiha to no end, simply because at the time, he thought that Naruto was toying with Sasuke's emotions. However, now that the Uchiha remembered, the only time Naruto taunted with his mind was after Sasuke, himself, verbally assaulted the blond.

As to the choice in element, the heavens couldn't curse him more; giving Sasuke a raiton affinity and his ultimate rival, a stronger affinity for fuuton. Sasuke didn't believe in coincidences, but he was battling his mind in order to explain why Naruto had to possess the only affinity that raiton can't beat. Sasuke wondered if Naruto knew about this, that's why he was all smiling and peaceful, because if pushed come to shove, or when element confronted element, Naruto would have the advantage. Maybe, maybe not; Sasuke was gauging the reason as to why Naruto was so calm, until the subject named 'other abilities' came to mind. Sasuke, himself, was not only proficient with raiton, but also katon ninjutsu. So, maybe Naruto could have other affinities as well or even knowledge in other elements. However, if Naruto really did have other abilities, then why didn't he use any of them against him? Why did Naruto focused only on fuuton, when he could use either suiton or doton. They were surrounded by water, so Naruto could very well use suiton and deal with him. Also, they were in the Valley, a place that contains a lot of rock, thus giving him the opportunity to use doton ninjutsu. That being said, either he didn't know other elements apart from fuuton or he chose not to use other elements.

Either way, he managed to beat Sasuke. Last, Sasuke wondered about Naruto's eyes and how just looking at him made him have a vision of himself being killed numerous times. Sasuke knew it wasn't a genjutsu, because one, Naruto didn't know any genjutsu techniques and two, his doujutsu was activated, so he wouldn't be caught by one, no matter the level of the technique. So, it's got to be a doujutsu. However, Sasuke didn't know of a third doujutsu in Konoha, even a kekkai genkai that could do this to anyone who looks at them.

Sasuke was now snarling at the never-ending questions he would like answered. His curiosity was immense now after seeing what Naruto could do and he really wanted to have some answers or else he would lose his mind. However, even with the sound restriction inside the cell, Sasuke managed to hear footsteps approaching. When said person appeared in front of his cell, though, Sasuke recognized that face, instantly. Not to mention that the orange book was a dead giveaway. Hatake Kakashi eyed his ex-student with plain disappointment. He always blamed himself for not drilling into Sasuke's mind that vengeance isn't the way out to solve the past, however he realized that Sasuke abandoned his village even before Orochimaru appeared and placed the cursed seal on him. Kakashi knew that Sasuke was a time-bomb wanting to explode and he was right.

Now looking at the despicable image of said Uchiha wearing the prisoner outfit, Kakashi couldn't help but want to knock the shit out of Sasuke. This was not why he came here, though. He wanted to see Sasuke with his own eyes and see what had become of his student. "Seeing you inside this cell, Sasuke; showed me the resemblance between the Uchiha brothers. The only difference is that Itachi isn't here right now" – Said Kakashi not even caring to see if his commentary angered the young Uchiha. Sasuke, on the other hand, wasn't a fool to realize that he became just like his brother did, a missing-nin, a traitor of the village. He wanted to tell Kakashi to shove that commentary and bark a lot of arguments to support his side of the story, but he could not. In the end, he did abandon the village to go after one of Konoha's mortal enemies, thus betraying Konoha just like Itachi did.

Kakashi was surprised Sasuke accepted the comparison with Itachi, although, he didn't show it. Sasuke betrayed Konoha, so it wouldn't be fair to those who almost lost their lives while trying to find ways of bringing him back. How many Anbu Black Ops members were lost by trying to find trails of Orochimaru, but ended up meeting Kabuto's chakra scalpels. And three years ago, if the medic-nins didn't arrive in time, Neji and Chouji would die for sure. All of these were taken into account. At least, he was glad to see Sasuke not refuting Kakashi's arguments. Sasuke, however, surprised him by asking about Naruto and how it was possible that he became so strong. Kakashi would have smiled if the situation wasn't serious. After everything that happened, Sasuke still thinks of his rivalry with Naruto. "Tell me Kakashi, how did Naruto become so strong? How did he change after the last time I saw him?" – Asked Sasuke with a hint of endless and morbid curiosity, which Kakashi noticed and picked up a chair, since this could take a while.

"Even after what you did, your mind is still set up on the fact that you lost to Naruto, huh? Well, as to your questions, Naruto did change a lot after he returned from that failed mission a year ago" – Said Kakashi as he continued to explain to Sasuke about Naruto. He told about Naruto taking the blame from the mission failure and his request to be disbanded from team seven which made Sasuke go wide-eyed at thinking of seeing Heal freezing before Naruto leaving Team seven. Kakashi explained about Naruto's exhaustive training for the chunnin exams where the blond won the championship. Kakashi didn't bother telling Sasuke about Naruto's other abilities, simply because, just like Naruto said before, he didn't want to see an angered Sasuke, demanding power. He only told about Naruto's fuuton abilities and the fact that Kakashi joined with the blond for tougher missions. When Kakashi finished, Sasuke was in deep thinking.

First of all, the thought of Naruto wanting to leave the team was a foreign concept for him. He remembered how Naruto felt about said team, three years ago and wondered what he took into consideration in order to reach that decision. Although Kakashi didn't tell him much about other affinities, Sasuke now was convinced that the blond had at least a second knowledge. He knew that Kakashi wouldn't tell him everything, simply because he wasn't trustworthy enough to receive this information. "Kakashi, when we fought, Naruto looked at me with changed eyes, what was that?" – Asked Sasuke, hoping to solve the never-ending mystery to which Kakashi looked at the Uchiha for a while. Kakashi knew it was a new doujutsu, but the hokage felt better to treat as a new jutsu and study it for later. Also, Kakashi wouldn't be stupid as to tell Sasuke that Naruto possess a doujutsu, so he used Naruto's name for his eyes, describing to Sasuke that it was a ninjutsu the blond created. He knew Sasuke wouldn't believe him, but he told anyway and then left Sasuke on his own to think.

_Assassin stare? Yes, a fitting name to it. _– Thought Sasuke. He knew it was a lie. If it was a ninjutsu, he would be able to copy it with his sharingan. However, even after some answers, the blond remained an enigma to Sasuke. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Three years ago, Naruto was everything but a shinobi. He was rash, obnoxious, attacked without thinking and always got in trouble. Now, he's completely opposite, strong, controlled and powerful as well. The Uchiha felt compelled to know the blond's secret to managing to obtain such level.

* * *

**---Inside Naruto's house---**

Already on his bed, Naruto wondered about two things. First, his sword; two days and Rikimaru's father was able to create a sword that rivaled the kusanagi. And second, the jounin exams. The elemental exam wasn't an issue; he would just need to provide a demonstration of fuuton and doton techniques during a ninjutsu battle. He already knew his strategy which consisted of using doton for defense and fuuton to attack and possibly, switch occasionally. The only problem, now, was the kenjutsu battle. Rumors stated that this Yuugao person was the best in the art. Also, Naruto would fight with a new sword, thus not adapted to it as he was with his old one. He seriously hoped to pick the sword at least a couple of hours before the exams, so he could test the sword a little bit.

He wondered about who would be watching the exams. Surely, Tsunade and Jiraya would be there, since she was the Godaime Hokage and Jiraya was a sannin. He doubted Aoi, Kakashi and Anko would miss this for personal reasons. He was wondering, though, if Iruka would be able to see the exam. It would mean a lot to Naruto if his surrogate brother would be there to see him. Suddenly, Naruto heard the noise of someone transporting inside his house and immediately grabbed a kunai. He knew it wasn't Anko or anyone he knew, simply because he could sense their chakra signatures with ease and this one wasn't familiar to him at all. Upon arrival, though, he spotted what seemed to be some toads together with Gamakichi staring at him with a somewhat demanding face.

Suddenly, the little one with a little white beard spoke apparently from out of nowhere since Naruto wasn't able to see the source of the voice. "Naruto, I don't believe we've met, my name is Fukasaku" – Said the elder toad to which Naruto just nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Apart from Jiraya-chan, you're our only summoner, thus you've got responsibilities as such. After you summoned Gamabunta to fight the Shukaku host three to four years ago, you only called Gamakichi here a few times and that was to deliver something to Konoha. Now the reason as to why I'm here is to discuss about why you didn't feel the need to summon us every once in a while?" – Asked Fukasaku to which Naruto looked at the little toad for a while. Sure, the toad was right, he didn't in fact summon any toad lately, but that's because his enemies were all human, thus he didn't feel the need to summon the toads. Truth be told, Naruto didn't know other toads except Gamabunta, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu and the fact that he didn't summon them is because Gamabunta wastes too much chakra to face regular enemies and the other two…well…let's just say he never really fought alongside with them.

Upon voicing this thought, Fugasaku was surprised that in three years, Jiraya-chan didn't mention any other toad to the boy and now knew why Naruto didn't summon any other toad. "Naruto, not all toads are huge like Gamabunta. They are battle toads that specialize in a specific area of expertise. For instance, I've got three battle toads that would be of much help to your way of fighting" – Said the elder toad to which Naruto looked at the man suspiciously. "How do you know my way of fighting, if I may ask? It's been a while since I last summoned Gamakichi and he didn't see any of it" – Said Naruto to which Fukasaku smiled in a devious way. "Let's just say that we invented a jutsu that enables us to shrink in size and you figure the rest" – Said the elder toad, before seeing Naruto widen his eyes in realization of the fact that the toads were with him the whole time. "I will not ask why you followed me and all. Instead if you could perhaps teach me about who can I summon and let's see if they match my fighting style or not" – Asked Naruto to which the toad smiled.

"Gamabuki (sword), Gamariki (strength), Gamamizu (water), please present yourselves" – Shouted Fukasaku before three pillars of smoke, making Naruto divert his eyes to the new arrivals. The first one was white with a few brown stripes, carrying what seemed to be double swords on his back. The other one was similar in appearance to the first one, but instead of brown, it was black and no weapons whatsoever. The last one was all yellow and was wearing an ocean blue jacket. All three of them were taller than an average adult and had all the appearances of facing any battle. "These three battle toads fit perfectly with your fighting style and I'll demonstrate to you. Gamabuki here is like you, a master sword user. He…" – Said Fukasaku, but stopped when the dual sword toad dashed really fast and stopped his twin swords only inches from Naruto's neck, earning the elder toad's sigh and also an explanation. "Unfortunately, he tends to be a little stubborn and go challenging people on occasion, I'm just glad he didn't proceed with his attack" – Said the elder toad to which Naruto smiled and Gamabuki smiled as well, before answering. "The gaki's alright Fukasaku-sama; he just blocked my swords with a fuuton charged kunai. Impressive, very impressive indeed".

Moving along, Fukasaku introduced Gamariki, a strong, but reliable toad who in turn introduced himself with respect. Last on the line, was Gamamizu, aka toad suiton master. "Gamamizu here, I believe, will be a great addiction to your ninjutsu department. By fusing your fuuton techniques with his suiton, the technique can be deadly. These three will be your personal summons for now on and will help you should you call for them. In order to summon a different toad, just think of the toad's name and perform the Kuchiyose ritual. Well, that is all I came to tell you Naruto, good luck on the exams tomorrow" – Said the elder toad before every toad vanished and Naruto scratched his eyes and yawned for a while. The toads could've chosen to appear a little bit early, he wondered, however he smiled upon seeing his three new summons and the possibilities of training or fighting alongside them.

* * *

**---Next day---**

Upon waking up, the blond was already feeling the pressure created by the jounin exams today. He was thanking kami for scheduling the exam later in the day, enabling Naruto to gather his new sword, do some light exercises with Gamabuki (he thought of it after he returned to his bed) and then rest a little while before the exam. He wondered about this Yuugao's abilities and how would his style match hers on battle. Naruto's style focused more on agility and the usage of fuuton chakra to not only strengthens the steel, but to also improve the blond's speed upon evading or maneuvering around the enemy. His sword strikes, although quite lethal, wasn't as important as his speed with the sword, simply because by having the speed advantage, Naruto could move unpredictably, thus making the enemy go into defensive and try avoiding Naruto's attacks.

However, as the blond walked towards Aoshi's house, he was wondering if the new sword handle would be at least similar to the old one. The blond grew accustomed to the old one and even created his style with it. If the new sword were to be somewhat different, Naruto would have to improvise and change some habits and that was something he didn't want to, at least not hours away from his jounin exams where he is supposed to have a kenjutsu match against Yuugao. As he walked, though, his eyes met two familiar faces, well one familiar face and one all covered up to Naruto figured it was Aburame Shino and his way of concealing every part of his body. The familiar face belonged to Hinata and they seemed to be discussing about something since he could see Hinata speaking and Shino just listening as per usual. Since he got back with Jiraya, he wasn't able to go on missions with either Kurenai's team or Asuma's team. At least, he met Asuma's team on occasions but Kurenai's team, though; there was no contact at all.

Suddenly, a big white fur appeared right in front of him and on top of the dog was Inuzuka Kiba dressed in all black leather. "What's up Naruto? Forgot about your friends already?" – Asked Kiba to which Naruto smiled and greeted the Inuzuka. "It just seems that we're out of luck when it comes to our presence inside the village. When I'm out on mission, you guys are within the village and when I'm here, your team is out on a mission" – Said Naruto, making Kiba look at the blond wondering what he just said because he didn't understand half of it. However, what the dog user didn't understand was Naruto saying like this. Kiba thought it was quite strange to hear Naruto speaking like Shino. Speaking of which, the bug user acknowledged Naruto's words and greeted the blond. Hinata, though, was nervous for some reason since she couldn't find the strength to greet the blond like a normal person. After seeing this, Naruto looked at Shino for a hint of what was happening to which he responded that Hinata was just nervous around the blond, thus earning a jump in surprise from the said Hyuuga.

Naruto, for his part, shrugged it off, figuring he shouldn't press the issue further. Kiba turned to look at Naruto one more time and remembered that the blond was promoted to chunnin. Kiba was remembering Naruto's fights at the chunnin exams and wondered what animal bit him in the ass for him to change so much. Suddenly, a new presence arrived and it was the team's sensei Yuhhi Kurenai. Upon looking at her team all gathered, she smiled since she wouldn't need to go search for all of them, however she found Naruto there as well with hands on pocket, talking to Kiba and Shino, while Hinata was unsurprisingly, struggling to even look at his face. Kurenai sighed once again and wondered what the blond had that Hinata found so hard to look at. The girl already acknowledged the fact that what attracted Naruto so much was his will never to give up. In fact, it was Hinata herself who said that she admired Naruto more than anything.

Perhaps if Naruto saw how Hinata fights, he could acknowledge her skills, thus ending this feeling once and for all. Upon approaching the team, Kurenai voiced her presence to which all her team and the blond greeted in return. "I'm glad to find the whole team in one go. The hokage called us for a B ranked investigation mission, we have to go and meet her right away" – Said Kurenai to which all team nodded and proceeded to leave. Naruto, smiling at them, turned towards Aoshi's place but stopped upon hearing Kurenai's voice calling him. "Naruto, this mission would require a fifth member to perform, are you interested?" – Asked Kurenai to which Naruto looked at the group and nodded his head in the negative. "Thanks, but I can't go Kurenai-san. I have to pick my sword and my jounin exams in today. Thanks for asking, though. Good luck on the mission" – Said Naruto before turning and heading to the swordsmith's house, leaving four (if Shino's mouth was visible) mouths open with shock. None of them managed to utter a word of the recent news.

Kiba was the first, though and his rage was quite visible. "Kurenai-sensei, he made it chunnin a year ago, how the hell he was eligible for the exams? All three of us reached our second year as chunnins" – Shouted Kiba, awakening Kurenai from her wondering. She was visibly impressed right now. Kiba was right, he only had a year as chunnin, but she knew also that Naruto managed to reach some serious rank in ninjutsu, managing up to three elements, also she knew of some of the blond's adventures around like some rumor she heard of him being able to convince an S ranked Iwa missing-nin to become a citizen of Konoha and now this man happens to ask for jounin status to the hokage and ask for a team of genin to train. She also heard from Hinata's cousin Neji about some missions Naruto participated along. "Although I'm surprised as well with his promotion, Naruto did manage to increase his elemental jutsu repertoire and since he returned from Sasuke's rescue mission, I heard from Neji and Kakashi that Naruto is doing higher B to A ranked missions one after another" – Explained Kurenai which managed to ease both Shino and Hinata, but unsurprisingly not Kiba.

"Yes, right. I bet I can beat him to the ground with the Inuzuka clan jutsus. I can't believe they picked him and not me or even you Shino to be promoted to jounin" – Shouted Kiba once again, which earned a smile from Kurenai. Although she wondered if Naruto had the experience needed for a jounin, she didn't doubt his abilities in a fight and Kiba challenging him could, maybe, form a new rivalry between the two and show Kiba a thing or two about elemental manipulation. She always wanted to teach her students, elemental manipulation but since all of them had special jutsus and some family 'traditions', she wasn't able to. "Kiba, if you're interested in challenging him, you're allowed to. The mission is only due to start for a while so Tsunade-sama could brief us later" – Said Kurenai to which Kiba screamed and turned to meet Naruto for a challenge, while Shino spoke to Kurenai.

"Even though he can get annoying sometimes, that won't help much. I happen to know that Naruto grew stronger than before and Kiba doesn't stand a chance. What do you plan with this?" – Asked Shino to which Kurenai smiled and responded. "Kiba sure it's hot-headed enough to charge Naruto without knowing what to expect, this challenge can show Kiba and you two a thing or two about elemental manipulation. Hopefully, I could get to override your families' restricted knowledge to only family jutsus and teach all of you" – Said Kurenai to which Shino and Hinata nodded, now understand the reason.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

After leaving the house, Naruto was studying his new piece of metal. The sword was much lighter than the old one and this sword happen to be more receptive to channeling chakra, thus making it more durable with fuuton chakra. Although expensive, Aoshi deserved every penny, the guy was a perfectionist. It was all perfect, the size, the sword grip fitted, the sword balance, everything the old one had and even more. He couldn't wait to summon Gamabuki and practice the new sword. Suddenly, though, but kind of expected from Naruto's part, Kiba and Akamaru appeared and he clearly was mad about something. "Uh, can I help you Kiba? I thought your team had a mission right now?" – Asked Naruto before seeing team 8 landing behind Kiba and turned to listen to the Inuzuka. "I found it very intriguing that you manage to reach the rank of jounin with only one year as chunnin, while I'm already at the second year and not even close to" - Snarled Kiba, showing Naruto what was wrong.

After placing the sword safely on his back, Naruto looked at Kiba once more. He was finding hard to believe that Kiba was blaming him for such a thing. "Kiba, if you're thinking about fair judgment and all that, please remember that in order for a chunnin to be promoted to jounin, his or her jounin-sensei must give his or her full consent in the matter. Tsunade-sama asked Kakashi and Aoi-sensei who deemed me ready for the exams, even though I'm a little bit skeptical about my chances of actually passing" – Said Naruto to which Kiba blinked a few times in realization of the truth, however he wouldn't leave without a fight. "That maybe true, so if I manage to beat you in a fight, that means I'll be eligible for the jounin exams, then" – Said Kiba as he jumped backwards and took his position.

The thought of having to fight prior to the jounin exams didn't suit Naruto at all, however Kiba's behavior indicated that he would only leave after either winning a battle or losing one. "Huh, fine, I'll fight against you but let's go somewhere more secluded. You Inuzukas tend to explode everything and hope to catch the enemy and that could destroy some houses around" – Said Naruto before jumping towards a training ground, earning a snarl from Kiba because of the blond's remark to his family. The others, though agreeing with the blond, chose not to voice from fear of having to put up with an angry Kiba.

* * *

**---At the Training Ground---**

Upon arrival, Naruto faced against Kiba and Akamaru for the second time. The blond remembered their last fight and chuckled from recalling that a fart was responsible for his victory. Looking at Kiba's face, Naruto could see that the Inuzuka felt confident that he could win. Naruto didn't want to use the big guns from fear of losing too much chakra and not doing well at the exams. Kiba for his part also recalled their previous battle and cursed the fact that Naruto farted on his face that day. Seeing that she was the highest in rank, Kurenai walked forward and authorized the beginning of the fight. Without even letting the blond think about a suitable strategy, Kiba and Akamaru started spinning in a dual drill towards Naruto. The blond didn't want to get hit by this technique which by the way hurt like a bitch, so he made some hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground. He could've done the simple technique, but he intended for it to be a bit more 'resilient' to damage. **Doton Tetsuheki no Jutsu** (Earth Release: Iron Wall Jutsu).

Instantly, a huge wall made of iron rose from the ground thus protecting Naruto from Kiba and Akamaru's attack. Both dog and human grinned about seeing the Doryuuheki because they know this wall wouldn't hold their attack. However, upon contact, the wall managed to resist the attack, thus ending with Kiba and Akamaru hitting their heads with force. After the wall went down, Naruto saw that Kiba and Akamaru were checking to their heads to see if it was bleeding or something like that, so he just waited for them to realize that he was just waiting. The crowd was suspected the same thing about Naruto's earth wall and that Kiba would pass through without a problem, however they saw the wall standing like nothing have happened, they knew something was strange with this technique. Hinata activated her byakugan and told Kurenai and Shino, that the wall wasn't only made out of earth, but also a much stronger substance which she couldn't identify to which Shino concluded it was iron. "Iron happens to be an advanced form of doton manipulation, but so far only one man in Iwa managed iron manipulation, I wonder how Naruto was able to learn it?" – Asked Shino rhetorically.

Back to the fight, Kiba spotted Naruto waiting for his attack and he didn't wait to attack once again. He engaged Naruto in taijutsu, but he couldn't hit Naruto no matter what. It was like his fist was connecting to Naruto's face but then the last minute, the blond would simply dodge out of nowhere. It continued so for a few minutes until Kiba jumped backwards to think more clearly with Akamaru. He was so focused on the Naruto in front of him, though, that he failed to realize the growing hand from the ground, grabbing his leg and pushing Kiba to the ground (**Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu - **Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Jutsu), thus immobilizing him underground. The next thing Kiba knew, he saw Naruto's sword inches from his neck, thus ending the fight in a couple of moves.

Kurenai gave the victory to Naruto and then ushered to dig her student from the ground. Of course, Naruto used some doton manipulation and pulled him out faster. After that, he turned to leave when Kiba shouted his name for a rematch. "Like I said before, Kiba, I have an exam to focus on today, I can't waste too much chakra fighting with you. Sorry, maybe some other time" – Said Naruto before disappearing within a small typhoon, leaving team 8 alone. It was safe to say that Kiba's pride was thrown to the ground so fiercely that he was finding in unbearable to breathe normally. Kurenai, although, silently thanked Naruto for not using some lethal jutsus against her student, felt that Naruto could use a less humiliating technique to end a fight. That last technique always sound to her like a dirty trick, but she was ashamed to say that she already fell for it upon sparring with Kakashi a while ago.

However, this was her cue to introduce elemental manipulation to her team. "Kiba, I know how you feel right now, but I promise you that after what I intend to train all of you in, you'll have another advantage against stronger enemies" – Said Kurenai to which Kiba looked at her perplexed only to see three white chakra papers on her hand. "We are going to learn about elemental manipulation and this special papers will determine which element all three of you are better suited for" – Explained Kurenai as he gave one paper to each of them.


	16. Jounin exams

**Chapter 16 – Jounin exams**

The afternoon sun was scalding. Some considered this day to be the hottest day of the year in Konoha thus far. No matter what, though, some ninja were faithful to their training and wouldn't stop just because it was hot out there. At one of the training grounds, three swords appeared dashing like crazy and the noises made upon contact echoed through the entire field. Just a few minutes ago, Naruto beat Kiba in a sparring match and then he summoned **Gamabuki **in order for him to test his new sword. Needless to say the toad was thrilled to help Naruto, since he happens to be addicted to a challenge. As their swords danced with each other, Naruto was taking a liking to this toad and his abilities in kenjutsu. Also the fact that the sword was lighter than the first and surprisingly more resistant to damage, Naruto found that he could parry both Gamabuki's swords with it, of course channeling fuuton chakra to increase its strength.

A moment there, when the three swords collided, Naruto used some strength to push Gamabuki's sword and flipped back in order to have some space, from being too overwhelming to fight two swords at the same time. However, that proved to be a mistake, since Gamabuki grinned evilly and began focusing fuuton chakra through his swords and hold them like an 'x'. "**Fuuton Kousaheika **(Wind Release: Cross Swords Jutsu)" – Said Gamabuki as the sent the swords down and sent the attack towards Naruto who gulped, before barely dodging the projectile because of the short distance. Once looking at the toad smiling like that, Naruto scowled and now saw why these toads matched his fighting style.

"You also use fuuton ninjutsu Gamabuki. I guess we aren't so different, then. Fugasaku-sama was right then. I have a question, though" – Said Naruto as he putted his sword back in the holster from fear of putting too much pressure on it before the exams initiate. Gamabuki for his part nodded on the fuuton ninjutsu usage as well and asked Naruto what was the question to which the blond smiled. "What the hell are you doing? Trying to kill me? I thought this was a sparring match, kenjutsu only. That attack would've cut me twice had I not dodged" – Shouted Naruto, earning a sweat drop from the toad who in turn realized what he did and looked down.

"Sorry about that Naruto, it's just that I tend to be a little too excited during the challenge and I forgot that we fought with ninjutsu restriction. I have to say, though, I never figured you'd be this good with a sword. When Fugasaku-sama told me about you, I was skeptical of your kenjutsu abilities, but seeing it in person, eliminated all my doubts. It's difficult to see a human being able to match my twin swords in battle and I can't wait for us to battle side by side soon. Good luck on the exam and summon me once again whether it is a kenjutsu spar or to assist you in battle" – Said Gamabuki, before leaving Naruto to stretch a while before turning around and heading towards the designated place where his jounin exams would take place.

* * *

**---Inside Anbu Headquarters---**

Without much to do except to wait to hear what his punishment would be, Sasuke chose to sleep for a while. Of course, it was a common fact that nightmares still plagued his head, simply because, unknowingly to everyone, Sasuke was traumatized with what Itachi did to him using one of the techniques of the final stage of the sharingan and now once again, just like every night, Itachi appeared in his dreams once again, or nightmare. In the dream, Sasuke saw the Uchiha Compound and he entered the main house, only to see three children running towards him all looking exactly like him, but with a few differences, presumably from his wife. Those were his children, he thought and he was finally able to resuscitate his clan. Suddenly, Sasuke could hear Itachi's voice and a huge mangenkyou sharingan eye appeared in front of him, hypnotizing his children and making them scream.

Sasuke could only scream for his brother to don't harm his children, but the response was the same. '_Foolish little brother, you lack the necessary hatred to overcome my strength. By killing your offspring, you'll have what it takes to defeat me'_. Instantly, Sasuke woke up drenched in sweat and realizing that it was all a nightmare. It was not long, however, that Sasuke saw Ibiki appear along with three Anbu black ops and open the cell. "Your trial is under way, Sasuke. You will now hear what punishment the Hokage saw feat in order to compensate for you acts against Konoha" – Said Ibiki as he ordered the Anbu Black Ops to escort Sasuke to the designated chamber. The Uchiha didn't fight their grip, simply because he didn't see any hope in doing this. He was strong, sure, but to overcome three high level shinobi, he would be beat to death.

As the group continued walking, a shadow was following them. Kabuto ran like hell to arrive in Konoha just in time to save Sasuke before execution is upon him. He managed to infiltrate the place where he knew Sasuke would be held prisoner and would try rescuing him, had Ibiki not arrived to fetch Uchiha Sasuke. Now, his time was short and he would have to act fast if he wanted to rescue the Uchiha. Thinking about it for a while, Kabuto despised the boy. Because of Orochimaru, Kabuto had to put up with such an arrogant fool whose only advantage was the fool's eyes. Actually, Kabuto restrained from using his chakra scalpel to kill him and be done with it, but then again Orochimaru would be pissed at him and that he didn't want at all. However, as Kabuto ghosted the group, one of them was suspicious of a fifth presence and secretly signed for the Anbu members to be aware of their surroundings in case of an attempt to kidnap the prisoner.

While walking, the group signed back to Ibiki all of them saying that the presence is watching them from the ceiling to which Ibiki nodded and prepared for an attack which would be soon to come. Suddenly, a blur fell from the roof and Kabuto was ready to use his chakra scalpels on the one holding Sasuke, when Ibiki caught the man's hands. "This is our lucky day boys, first the Uchiha and now Kabuto" - Said Ibiki as he squeezed Kabuto's hand with chakra, thus breaking Kabuto's hand in the process. At first, Ibiki thought that the enemy would scream in pain but seeing Kabuto just smirking, he now knew how sadistic one had to be in order to be near that snake. Kabuto for his part wasn't foolish to believe he could take on four Anbu level shinobi nor he was even more foolish to risk his life for Sasuke's.

So, he did the only thing a ninja do once cornered and no chance of winning, he shunshined out of there, thus managing to escape. Ibiki snarled upon letting Kabuto escape, but then shrugged it off and continued down the path along with Sasuke and the other three Anbu members. "Ibiki-senpai, should I issue a search order for Kabuto? He might still be inside Konoha" – Asked one of the members to which Ibiki nodded in negative and explained. "No need for that. Kabuto is slippery son of a bitch. He's probably out of Konoha as we speak. I doubt we would find him, we must focus on the task at hand trooper" – Said Ibiki to which the Anbu soldier wearing the bear mask complied and continued to walk. Once they arrived at the designated spot, which was pretty much empty except for a red bench in the middle and what seemed to be a mirror on the far wall. After positioning Sasuke on top of the bench, Ibiki left through a door near there and appeared inside a chamber where Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi and Sakura were waiting.

Being the hokage's apprentice, she was supposed to witness everything in order to better assist Tsunade in everyday matters. Sakura found it odd, though, that Kakashi was in the room with them. Shrugging it off, she turned to look at the prisoner whose head was covered by a bag, just waiting to hear the Hokage's penalty. The rest of the group actually considered keeping Sakura away from this trial; however by doing so, the girl would be suspicious and start asking unwanted questions and also calling too much attention. However that didn't mean they were too happy with letting her see who is being judged right now. Sasuke's return was something she wished since he left three to four years ago and seeing him about to lose everything, was something all of them knew the pink haired chunnin would 'disagree'.

"Tsunade-sama, we are ready for him" – Said Ibiki to which Tsunade sighed and authorized the removal of the bag. Ibiki acknowledged the order and returned to the place where the prisoner was being held. She was only counting the time for Sakura to explode. When Ibiki removed the bag from the man's head and Sakura's heart stopped instantly. Her eyes widen to impossible amounts and her pupils were dilated. She couldn't think, she couldn't even utter a single sound. The only noise that could be hear was her messy breathing as she turned to cope with the fact that the one whose heart she earned, was now being treated as nothing more than a prisoner. Upon turning to eye her sensei Kakashi, she saw nothing in his eyes; it was like he knew all the time and didn't tell her.

Seeing that Sakura was now available to hear what happened, Tsunade turned to explain the whole chain of events to Sakura, who turned to see the Hokage. "Sakura, a couple days ago, Sasuke dropped a challenge note to Naruto. He in turn showed it to Kakashi, before showing it to me. I sent him, Kakashi and Yamato to bring him back. Naruto, in the end, was able to beat Sasuke and brought him to Konoha. Now, he's going to face trial for the crimes against Konoha" – Said Tsunade, before seeing Sakura snarling her teeth in clear angry. She was possessed right now and she was blaming everyone from keeping this information from her. She wasn't insane enough to blame Naruto for this, since they haven't spoke in weeks, but Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune were around to talk to her anytime they wished. It didn't take an expert to see what Sakura thinking was about, so he chose the silent moment to explain further.

"Sakura, if you're wondering why no one told you about Sasuke, hear me out for a second. The reason why no one told you, was because the mission success was considered high secret by Tsunade-sama from fear of drawing unwanted attention as well as deal with him before words reached wrong ears. I believe I speak for the Hokage when I say that once everything was taken care of, everyone would know about what happened soon enough" – Explained Kakashi, before watching Sakura presumably relax a bit. She did relax, but there was one next thing that was bothering her and that was how Naruto was able to beat Sasuke when the first time, he couldn't even land a finger on Sasuke. Upon voicing it with a smooth tone, Kakashi answered. "Naruto grew stronger than ever since he returned from that mission Sakura. Sasuke, though, underestimated Naruto's abilities and that cost him dearly" – Explained Kakashi to which Sakura nodded and turned to Tsunade.

"What will happen to him now Tsunade-sama?" – Asked Sakura to which Tsunade sighed and explained that Sasuke was a missing-nin and as such, he would receive the penalty of losing his status as shinobi, however since he supplied some information, his punishment wouldn't be that severe, but he would receive a penalty nonetheless. Looking down in shame, Sakura once again felt like she was useless. Ever since Sasuke left, she trained for hours on end, never worrying about either collapsing from chakra depletion of even loss of stamina. The reason to all her training was so that when the time came, she would be the one to bring Sasuke back home. Now, however, since Naruto was able to bring him back, she couldn't help but feel that all that training was wasted. She asked permission to not see this and began walking away from the place. She needed space; she needed time to think about the course of events.

Once outside Anbu HQ, she chose to walk around looking straight at the ground. She remembered the first time Konoha tried to bring back Sasuke and how much of a failure it was. She, of course, blamed Naruto for the entire thing at the time, but in reality, she wasn't able to do much either, not to mention the fact that Naruto was almost depleted from chakra the time, because of over usage of Kyuubi's chakra. Now that he managed to defeat him and bring him back, Sakura couldn't say she was in gratitude with the blond for doing this. Suddenly, memories of their entire career as ninjas came flooding her mind and now tears fell freely. Why she was crying, she didn't know. Maybe, could be her body taking control and doing the crying for her or maybe, the fact that even with Sasuke back, her feeling of loneliness didn't diminish.

After walking for a while, her head inclined for a fraction of second, but it was enough for her eyes to see the only person who could understand all of this. Said person, for instance, saw Sakura in front of him and stopped. There was time yet for his exam, since he was calmly walking towards the designated place. Naruto imagined bumping into a lot of people that he knew, however he didn't think he would get to see Sakura of all people. Also seeing the clear sign of tears falling from her eyes, it was clear that she knew what happened. "Hello Naruto" – Greeted Sakura to which Naruto greeted her back and then, silence. Sakura was afraid of talking about Sasuke and Naruto…didn't have anything to talk about.

After a while, Sakura managed the courage to ask. "Naruto, when you fought Sasuke; did he say anything to you?" – Asked Sakura before eyeing Naruto who in turn never took his eyes away from her. Naruto, for his part, tried remembering his somewhat brief conversation with Sasuke, but he couldn't remember anything different than some taunts to his abilities.

"He just wanted to fight me, since all that came out of his mouth were cheap taunting. Other than that, I don't recollect hearing anything different. Also, if by now you know about it, it means that his trial is about to begin" – Said Naruto to which Sakura nodded and returned to looking down once more. Her single shred of hope of still being inside Sasuke's mind was now nonexistent. She appreciated Naruto for telling her and then, began walking once again, leaving Naruto alone to walk towards his jounin exams. Sakura stopped walking for a while and looked at Naruto's back wondering about the fact that Naruto, instead of comforting her, just answered her question and walked away. _I guess I was stupid to believe he would care. _

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

Calmly walking towards the destination, Naruto spotted Asuma, Gai and Neji calling to him near a dango stand. Upon approaching and sitting for a while at the jounin table, Gai began screaming about flames of youth and the arrival of one more jounin to their ranks. Naruto smiled, but said that he was still due to pass the exam, meaning there was a possibility he would remain a chunnin for a while. He mentioned that the ninjutsu part was presumably easy to pass, but his tension was related to the kenjutsu fight and his opponent for the exams.

All of them knew about Yuugao's proficiency with the sword and advised Naruto not to lower his guard down. Asuma heard from Kakashi that Naruto happens to also channel fuuton chakra to his weapons and decided to see him performing. "Naruto, would you please channel wind chakra through your sword for me, I want to see your level and perhaps, I could give some pointers to strengthen the metal a bit more" – Said Asuma to which Naruto complied and took his sword, before channeling fuuton chakra through the blade.

Instantly, the blue aura around the blade began and Asuma acknowledged the blond's proficiency in it, even if it wasn't as strong as his knives. "Good good; you're on the right way, Naruto. The metal will become stronger as you grow. However, I would advise you to practice more often. The secret is to upgrade your chakra control so that you can be able to channel pure fuuton chakra, eliminating the small percentage of normal chakra you happen to be using right now. I can see, though, the sword's metal is top notch, so you won't have to worry about the sword breaking anytime soon" – Explained Asuma to which Naruto nodded and stopped the flow of chakra before returning the sword to its holster.

"Thanks Asuma-sensei. Well, I must be going or else people will think Kakashi-sensei's tardiness passed on to me. See ya" – Said Naruto before hearing Asuma chuckle, Gai screaming about his rival and Neji giving his usual 'huh' in reply. As he walked, though, he encountered Shikamaru and was surprised to see he was going to perform the jounin exams as well. Although, seeing that Shikamaru's ninjutsu was based on shadow manipulation, his test would include a written test and genjutsu evasion. "It is troublesome as hell, Asuma-sensei applied my name for this exams and my mother practically beat me up saying that I was to show up, or else…I don't want to think what she would do to me if I missed the exam, so here I am" – Sighed Shikamaru, before seeing Naruto smiling at him and the conversation began once again.

"So what's your test going to be?" – Asked Shikamaru to which Naruto explained that it would involve an all ninjutsu battle and then a kenjutsu one against one of Konoha's top sword user, to which Shikamaru nodded. "I have to admit, though, Naruto. You managed to upgrade quite fast the ranks to be applying for the jounin exams so soon after becoming chunnin" – Said Shikamaru before turning to see Naruto smiling.

"I guess I'm not the only one who thinks about this, then. Personally, I don't think I have what it takes to be a jounin. Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei all considered me to be jounin material, hence why I'm here right now. This Yuugao person is rumored to be the best in Konoha and she has ten times the experience than I have" – Stated Naruto to which Shikamaru eyed him for a while and was about to retort, but found to be too troublesome to ever figure the blond out. "You can be such a mystery sometimes Naruto" – Said Shikamaru to which Naruto smiled and responded.

"I'll take that as a complement, Shikamaru. Well, we're here…good luck on your exams…or not. Seeing that you don't wish to pass, I wouldn't know if you'd be thrilled once you pass. Well, good luck anyway" – Said Naruto before turning and walking straight to his field, when Kurenai appeared to talk to Shikamaru. "Good afternoon Shikamaru. Huh, what are you looking at?" – Asked Kurenai before she turned to see the blond walking casually with his hands on pocket. "Just when I'm about to figure that guy out, he comes and shoot all my expectations to the ground, so troublesome" – Mumbled Shikamaru earning a chuckle from Kurenai who in turn, heard this all too often. "Naruto is the most unpredictable person I've ever met, so don't feel bad about not being able to understand his thinking. Now, your jounin exam is under way, shall we?" – Said Kurenai before seeing Shikamaru mumble something about 'troublesome blond' and walked inside, once again earning some giggling from Kurenai.

Back with Naruto, he remained walking until he saw one familiar face and two Anbu members waiting with him. One had long purple hair so he figured that he cat masked Anbu was Yuugao; however the one with the lion mask was unfamiliar. He wondered why no one would be there to see him, but quickly shrugged it off since both Tsunade and Kakashi were with Sasuke. However, he thought that Anko would be there to see him.

The three ninjas spotted Naruto coming and Yamato greeted him. "I was beginning to wonder if Kakashi-senpai's lateness rubbed off on you Naruto. You're just in time, let's begin. First of all, the Hokage asked me to tell you that Anko was in a top secret mission and won't be able to attend your exams. Now Tsunade-sama elected us three to test your abilities and gauge about your promotion to jounin rank. Since you chose doton and fuuton as element manipulation, you'll be fighting each one of us in one designated area. I'll be your adversary regarding doton ninjutsu, the one with the lion mask codename 'Kaze' (wind) will test you regarding fuuton ninjutsu and last of all, the one with the cat mask codename Ken (sword) will test your kenjutsu abilities" – Explained Yamato to which Naruto nodded and asked what was he supposed to do to attain the rank of jounin.

"Since there is three of us, we decided to do this by three phases. For you to pass to the next phase and so on, you'll have to keep up with us for as long as we wish. This test is also to test your chakra capacity and stamina to keep up with all three of us. I'll be your opponent for the first phase. And my test is to see you use both offensive and defensive doton ninjutsu. Obviously, I'll mix some surprises here and there, so pay attention to your surroundings" – Said Yamato before the Anbu members backed away a bit, since the ground would shake a little bit.

* * *

**---With Anko---**

Washing her face a little bit, Anko wondered how Naruto's exam was going to be. She didn't want to leave him alone, but removing the cursed seal to her was top priority right now. Her relationship with Naruto evolved up to the point of Orochimaru's curse now being even more unbearable than it already was. Therefore, she needed it removed right away. Sadly, though, the only one capable of such a thing was nowhere to be found and her mission was to find him. Anko cursed the fact that she would have to find that pervert, since she lost count on how many times the man spied on her and a few others in Konoha. Not to mention the times when he spied on her and Naruto together.

Being a seal master, Jiraya could find a way to cancel the seal's effects other than simply restraining it. However, the man was nowhere to be seen. She used her tracking ability to the maximum, but it has been three days since she left Konoha and still no sign of the damn pervert. She feared that the man wasn't located in Fire Country, thus resulting in her having to go back to Konoha. Suddenly, though, an idea came to her. Anko remembered her boyfriend telling that while in their travels, usually Jiraya would visit all the bathhouses in Fire Country, which meant that in order to find the pervert, Anko had to find the bathhouses.

* * *

**---Anbu HQ---**

Now facing nothing but the mirror, Sasuke was hearing Tsunade enumerating his crimes against Konoha, before initiating the trial. "Sasuke Uchiha, since this is a trial, you're entitled to state your defense at the accusations; you'll have a couple of minutes to start and please be brief" – Said Tsunade to which Sasuke nodded and closed his eyes, before speaking. "I have nothing to say Tsunade. My goal was simple, get stronger in order to kill my brother once and for all. Orochimaru supplied me with said strength and, although it pains me to admit, I underestimated Naruto in our fight, because I didn't think he could attain such a level. Also, since I gave some info on Orochimaru, my penalty would be reduced. I do not regret my actions and know that I will do whatever it takes in exchange for power" – Said Sasuke.

Kakashi couldn't say he was disgusted of unsurprised right now. He knew about Sasuke's drive to overcome his brother, but he also was foolish enough to believe in what his brother said to him. "Sasuke, before you hear your penalty, tell me why you wanted to fight Naruto?" – Asked Kakashi to which Tsunade questioned him about the relevance of this issue, before Sasuke laughed a little bit and answered. "Orochimaru sent me here to kill him. However, there was another reason and I'm sure you already know what it is…I never had any type of emotional bonding while in Konoha, but I can say that Naruto was the one who were the closest to me. The legend of the mangenkyou sharingan states that in order to attain such level, one has to kill his or her best friend. I could choose not to come, but I came here in hopes of killing him and attaining the next phase of the sharingan" – Explained Sasuke to which Kakashi nodded and then turned to Tsunade for her to give his judgment.

"Very well, Sasuke Uchiha as of this moment, you'll be suspended from ninja duty and will be on house arrest for the period of two years. Also, restriction seals and tracking seals will be added to your body, thus disabling your access to chakra as well as being able to bind you to Konoha should you try to escape once again. My initial judgment would be removing you from ninja duty for ever, with the possibility of execution based on your missing-nin rank; however since you supplied information from Konoha's enemy number one, your penalty will be reduced. If by the end of the two years, you still vows for revenge and leave, I'll have no choice but to set you to execution" – Stated Tsunade, before authorizing Ibiki to initiate the sealing ritual. Seconds after, all it could be heard in the room were screams as Sasuke's chakra was being concealed.

* * *

**---With Naruto---**

Naruto was standing face to face with Yamato and neither of them moved for quite a while, which meant that either Yamato was testing his patience or he was waiting for Naruto to strike. Seeing that the fight initiated a while back, Naruto moved his hands for hand seals in lightning speed and slammed his hands on the ground. **Doton Ganchuusou **(Earth Release: Earth Spikes Jutsu). Instantly, the place where Yamato was appeared a number of earth spikes charging against Yamato who in turn, did a back flip, while making hand seals, before saying **Doton Doryuudan no Jutsu (**Earth Release: Mud Dragon Projectile Jutsu).

Immediately, a dragon emerged from the ground and spilled a number of mud projectiles, but Naruto was already making hand seals by the time the dragon appeared and spilled some mud from his mouth for **Doton Doryuuheki **(Earth Release: Earth Barrier Jutsu), which in turn grew to become a protective wall, thus blocking the projectiles. Yamato knew Naruto would do that and quickly summoned one **moku bunshin **and then had him henge as a tree to catch Naruto off guard. However, just as soon as he finished the clone, he sensed some chakra being molded and looked up to see Naruto on top of the wall, making hand seals before slamming his hands on the barrier. **Doton Amerein **(Earth Release: Rain of Spears Jutsu).

Suddenly, numerous spikes appeared from the earth barrier and shot towards Yamato who in turn went underground and avoided the projectiles. Suddenly, Naruto jumped towards the ground while making hand seals for his creation. Upon slamming his hands on the ground for **Doton Supaiku Ouchi **(Earth Release: Spiked Pit Jutsu), the ground shaked a little before a big hole was created with spikes all over it and Yamato was caught by surprise and used his hands to grab one of the spikes from falling. _Wow, Naruto is very good with doton ninjutsu, now to my little trap; let's see if you figure it out Naruto. _– Thought Yamato as he smiled before letting go of the spike and fell to his doom, surprising Naruto for a moment there, before he saw wood debris flying after Yamato fell, which meant that he was a bunshin.

Immediately, the once tree dispelled the henge and made some hand seals for **Doton Iwa Yado Kuzushi **(Earth Release: Stone Lodging Destruction Jutsu), catching Naruto off guard who in turn began the hand seals sequence and only hoped the wall would rise in time. **Doton Tetsuheki no Jutsu (**Earth Release: Iron Barrier Jutsu). Just as the first stone appeared near Naruto, the iron wall took shape, stopping the stones. Yamato wondered why this wall was different when he approached and examined it. Upon touching, the feeling was different and he felt the same as rubbing his hand on metal instead of earth. However, before he could analyze the technique further, he heard Naruto scream **Doton Yurasu Yassha **(Earth Release: Rock Catapult Jutsu) and immediately, the rocks that Yamato threw at him now was used by Naruto, giving the man no option but to dodge all the incoming rocks.

Yamato knew that he couldn't dodge forever, since he was vulnerable for another attack, but the succession of the attacks were coming too fast for him to change his strategy, so he could only dodge. Suddenly, though, he witnessed the wall coming down and Naruto making hand seals for **Doton Deido-ho **(Earth Release: Mud Cannon Jutsu), before Naruto exhaled a mud ball from his mouth and came flying straight towards him just as two other stones attacked him as well, giving him no choice but to revert to wood jutsu. **Mokuton Moku Shouheki **(Wood Release: Wood Barrier Jutsu), thus defending himself from the incoming projectiles.

Naruto knew the rules of combat and saw the mokuton being used, so he stopped and waited for Yamato to get out of his barrier before approaching him. Once the barrier was gone, Naruto could see that Yamato was panting for air, while he instead, wasn't even winded. "Alright Naruto, you managed to pass the first test. I do wonder about the different wall technique you used. I know is doton, but it was different isn't it?" – Asked Yamato to which Naruto nodded and explained about his initiation to iron manipulation.

After hearing the explanation, Yamato's eyes widened to impossible amounts at the possibility of attaining such level and Naruto also explained that he was taught by Aoi how to manipulate iron. It was safe to say that Yamato would ask Aoi for some tips. "Ok, Naruto, one out of three. Now, you'll face Kaze in fuuton ninjutsu. For this test, he will be the one stating the rules to pass; good luck" – Said Yamato before moving out of the way for Shi to take his place at the battlefield while Yamato rested alongside Yuugao. "You are hurt, aren't you?" – Asked Yuugao to which Yamato nodded and smiled.

"Yes I am; that last attack managed to hit my chest. I've never heard about this mud cannon attack" – Stated Yamato, before he took a closer look on the next fight. Yuugao for her part acknowledged Naruto's abilities and wondered about his kenjutsu skills. Back to the fight, Shi began the talking. "Okay Naruto, you managed to impress us in doton ninjutsu, but now its fuuton's turn. As you know, fuuton ninjutsu can be divided in slicing, air pressure and wind blowing techniques, both defensive and offensively speaking. Tell me from these three, which one you're able to perform?" – Asked Kaze to which Naruto responded by saying that apart from air pressure, which by the way he was clueless about, he was able to perform slicing and wind blowing techniques.

Although the mask was on, Naruto could hear the man laughing. "That's alright. Air pressure is the most advanced form of manipulation regarding fuuton ninjutsu and its records are restricted to jounin and above. Fuuton ninjutsu, specially slicing attacks are very dangerous in a test like this, because you can't let the attack hit you. So, we'll restrict this type of techniques to target practice only. The basic slicing technique **Fuuton Kaze no Yaiba **(Wind Release: Wind Sword Jutsu) is enough for the first exercise. You'll need precision for this. I'll be throwing shurikens to the air and will be up to you to cut as many as possible with this technique. After that, we'll battle using wind blowing techniques" – Explained Kaze to which Naruto nodded and prepared for the incoming shurikens.

* * *

**---With Shikamaru---**

Looking at his test, Shikamaru was passing through every question with ease so far. He wasn't considered a brain genius for nothing and Tsunade thought best to see how he would perform as a strategist in jounin level missions. So far, though, Shikamaru encounter some challenging questions and even one that made him do his focus position in order to answer, but the majority of the questions were easy to solve. He wondered how Naruto's test was going, while looking to the window. Kurenai was the one selected to test Shikamaru for jounin position and looked at him while he was goofing off instead of finishing the test.

"Even though there is still time to finish Shikamaru, it wouldn't be a good idea to be goofing off" – Said Kurenai as she smiled at her boyfriend's favorite student before looking out the window and seeing a number of shurikens flying before seeing all of them being cut in half, in what assumed to be fuuton ninjutsu. "Well, it looks that Naruto's test has begun" – Observed Kurenai to which Shikamaru nodded. "The tremors we sent a while ago were also part of his test. I heard from Asuma-sensei that Naruto would be using both doton and fuuton ninjutsu to pass the exams, so it started a while ago" – Said Shikamaru to which Kurenai nodded and told him to look at his test and finish it already, earning mumbles from the Nara heir.

* * *

**----With Naruto---**

"17 out of 20; a good mark right there; now we'll battle using only wind blowing techniques. The one who sent the other flying first wins; for you to win this, you have to either faster in hand seals or perform a stronger technique than mine. Get ready" – Ordered Kaze to which Naruto nodded and smiled at the cunning challenge before him. It went without saying that Shi was a master in fuuton ninjutsu so the man must have some very good techniques that he could learn in the future, not to mention being introduced to air pressure manipulation in the future. Immediately making hand seals, Naruto exhaled the most basic wind technique **Fuuton Daitoppa **(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu).

However, upon seeing Kaze turn and face the other way, Naruto wondered what he was doing. Surprisingly, the air passed by him and he didn't even move. _Why did he turn around? _- Thought Naruto, before he heard Shi talking. "Using this level of technique won't be enough to take me off the ground; you'll have to do better than that. Now is my turn" – Said Kaze as he made some hand seals for a technique of his own. **Fuuton Arashi no Hageshii **(Wind Release: Furious Tempest Jutsu). Widening his eyes to impossible proportions, Naruto channeled chakra to the ground as much as he could so as to stick to it and don't fly. The technique's strength was tremendous and he thought he would lose the match. As the technique ended, Naruto sighed in relief and began making some hand seals for **Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **(Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu). Immediately, a horizontal tornado charged Kaze who in turn, used chakra to evade the attack just as the tip of the hurricane appeared in front of him, before making hand seals. "**Fuuton Reppushou **(Wind Release: Gale Wind Palm)" – Shouted Kaze before sending a canalized gust of wind towards Naruto, who also dodged the attack.

However, Kaze didn't stop as he made hand seals once again, this time for a stronger version of Naruto's first technique called **Fuuton Yaseitoppa **(Wind Release: Wild Breakthrough Jutsu). What Naruto saw, however, wasn't anywhere near the original one, this technique was wider and stronger than the original. Snarling in frustration at being such a novice, Naruto made some hand seals for a defensive fuuton ninjutsu called **Fuuton Shouheki no Jutsu **(Wind Release: Wind Barrier Jutsu), creating a hurricane around him so that the opponent's attack would pass through him, thus protecting him from harm. However, even before dispelling the barrier, Naruto saw Kaze moving his hands in a familiar way and knew he wouldn't be able to keep up this time, since his opponent performed the **Fuuton Arashi no Hageshii **once again. Using as much chakras as he could, this time in order to stick his feet on the ground, Naruto was feeling the wind practically ravishing his entire body. The strength of the technique was unbearable to keep up and he would soon lose control over his chakra and his feet would no longer stick to the ground. Fortunately, though, Kaze stopped the technique so as to conserve some chakra for later, allowing Naruto to rest for a little bit.

"I have to say, though, Naruto. Your primary affinity is wind, however I feel you barely scratched the surface of the real power of fuuton ninjutsu. I must say I overestimated you a bit. You need to train more if you wish to become stronger" – Said Kaze while Naruto got up, before looking at his opponent. "You overestimated me, Kaze-sempai. Almost everyone underestimated me; none of them ever believed I would be standing before you for the position of jounin and now I get to see someone thinking highly of my skills. I can see your techniques are much stronger than mine are and the force of your wind makes me look weak in comparison. However, there is one technique I have, but this would be the first time using it. I bare to think of it as an S ranked ninjutsu, but I guess you got to be the judge" – Said Naruto before being surrounded by blue chakra. "This is my ultimate fuuton technique and I'm very proud of its creation" – Stated Naruto before closing his eyes in pure concentration.

Immediately, the image was black and only Naruto could be visible in the middle as if focusing through his inner self in order to find the strength he needed for this technique. After that, he began in slow motion, a large sequence of hand seals. Although his hands were moving slowly, shadows of its movements could be seen around it as Naruto went to the hand seals necessary. This technique was his trademark, one he was able to create after the fight with Sasuke; actually he was able to create moments after Team Gai found him meditating on top of the river. Continuing on with the hand seals, the necessary chakra was being molded and Naruto could feel his chakra being gathered at the designated tenketsus that in turn, would be the ones responsible for the success of the technique. When he opened eyes, just as the last hand seal was made, Naruto screamed **Fuuton Kamikaze **(Wind Release: Divine Wind Jutsu).

Instantly, an immense hurricane with widen proportions formed around Naruto who in turn was focusing on a single hand seal. Channeling more chakra and enough rotation speed for the hurricane to be yanking thick trees of the ground, Naruto sent the immense hurricane after Kaze who could only watch as the hurricane overcome his entire view of things, thus giving him no other option but to take the attack head on and sent flying. Yamato and Yuugao had to cover their faces with their arms from the sheer force of the hurricane until they saw Shi flying. Immediately making hand seals, Yamato made a tree log and managed to grab Kaze before he would leave Konoha from the air.

When he looked at the training ground, he was surprised to see that Naruto managed to yank every one of the trees. Looking at Naruto, he was on the ground panting from clear over usage of chakra. A while later Kaze awakened and looked at this strange chunnin in front of him. The Anbu soldier heard of a couple of chakra powerhouses which consisted of shinobi with high chakra capacity, but Naruto was totally different if this new technique was anything to go by. Upon approaching and helping the blond up to his feet, Kaze applauded him and confessed his amazement at the technique. "You pass my test Naruto, congratulations. You managed to cut more than two thirds of the shuriken using wind manipulation and managed to send me flying with your supreme technique. The share wind managed to damage my skin a bit and that speaks highly of its force. Now, since you passed my test, you completed the ninjutsu part of the exam. The last one will be Ken's test, good luck" – Said Kaze before seeing Naruto smile and nod, before asking for a chakra pill. Yamato wondered about this, but then again, Naruto would no longer, use ninjutsu and he needed at least a little bit of chakra to move his body against Yuugao.

Taking a while to gather his strength, Naruto was watching intently as Yuugao took off her sword and observed it for a while. Aoi-sensei once told him that a sword user's ability is measured by how much the user cares for the sword. The weapon will only be dangerous once it merges with the ninja sort of way. Once the weapon becomes a part of the ninja, he or she would be a force to be recognized. Naruto assumed that Yuugao had a very strong bond with her sword, simply because even with the mask on, he could see her eyes focusing on the blade, while using her hand to feel its material. _She will be a worthy adversary_– Thought Naruto as he got up and took his sword. Yuugao for her part looked at her opponent getting up and focused on position to battle. Naruto also assumed a position and stood there just watching and studying Yuugao's movements. This was a true samurai fight as both sword users just stood there for a while, observing each other. To Shi and Yamato, they were eagerly watching the opponent's concentration.

Neither of them wanted to attack first since the one who did would be open for a counter-attack and that was something none of them wished to happen. However, one would have to attack, or else it would be a stalemate. While focusing on Yuugao, Naruto remembered Kakashi saying that Yuugao lost her beloved Hayate at the Sand-Sound invasion and how sad she was for a while. He also remembered Kakashi saying that after the sadness, Yuugao closed her heart and just focused her mind on missions and training. _So, I guess she wouldn't mind if I used that jutsu on her, would she_? – Thought Naruto as he finally charged Yuugao. Just when he was about mid distance to Yuugao, Naruto jumped to the air and suddenly two Narutos divided and each went to a separate way, making Yuugao go wide-eyed upon seeing this jutsu again after so long. _Hayate…_

Looking up, she saw Naruto descending on her with his sword ready. Moving quickly, she placed her sword in defensive and pumped a little bit of chakra to her feet to smooth the impact a bit. When the swords clashed, Yuugao's elbow bended a little bit from the obviously superior strength, but managed to stop the attack. "Tell me right now, how taught you this attack? Who taught you?" – Screamed Yuugao in a menacing way to which Naruto smiled and gave Rikimaru's name to her. "Kakashi-sensei has a friend in Anbu corps called Rikimaru; he was the one who taught it to me. I used this technique not only to initiate the fight, but to see whether or not you would remember Hayate-sempai" – Said Naruto before he pushed Yuugao with his sword only for her to use the momentum and twist her body before swinging her sword yet again, aiming to strike Naruto on the side.

Seeing the attack, Naruto moved his sword and protected with ease, before he pushed Yuugao's sword and positioned the sword down, before swinging it up, doing a vertical assault to which Yuugao back flipped thus avoiding the attack. It wasn't long until she attacked and Naruto defended. Now, both of them were holding their swords against one another locked in a stalemate. "Did you get to meet Hayate-kun, Naruto?" – Asked Yuugao while the swords were clashing in the middle of the fight. Naruto nodded in negative. "Unfortunately, I didn't. Hayate was the proctor of my first chunnin exams. I actually met his nephew Gekkou Tonari. I can tell that Hayate's spirit rests within him since Tonari is a strong and capable ninja. Actually, he and I became chunnins just a year ago" – Said Naruto, before both opponents did a back flip and positioned one more time one in front of the other, while studying the next attack.

"After his death, I swore revenge for a while. However, the path of revenge is never pleasant; some of the people that stood by me once told me that. Hayate's spirit wouldn't be able to rest had I took the path of an avenger and attacked the one who killed him. However, I long since blocked everything and just focused on the mission and training. Only after you attacked me with my fiancée's favorite attack, did I wake up. I thank you Naruto for what you did, however that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you, so be prepared" – Stated Yuugao before removing her mask and revealing Yuugao's face. Naruto for his part nodded. "I wouldn't want it any other way, Yuugao-sempai" – Said Naruto, before both ninjas clashed their swords into another stalemate, before flipping backwards and exchanging a series of swing attacks with one another. Naruto was using fuuton ninjutsu to match Yuugao's speed, but that wasn't enough. Yuugao was faster and lighter than he was, so by using fuuton chakra, he was able to dodge and attack Yuugao.

While watching, Shi told Yamato about what Naruto was doing. "Are you sure?" – Asked Yamato to which Shi nodded. "Positive. Naruto is using fuuton chakra to control his body's movements. By expelling chakra from a certain tenketsus, Naruto can practically dodge the attacks, without needing to use his legs or propelling his body. I have to say this Naruto is quite creative using fuuton like this" – Explained Kaze to which Yamato nodded and turned to look at the impressive showdown before him.

After a while, both opponents were at stalemate. No matter which attack one used, the other would block, thus the only sound that could be heard was the sound of swords clashing. Just after the last stalemate, Yuugao back flipped long back and focused chakra to her attack. She positioned her sword down to her right side and focused chakra to her legs to give the propel she needed. Once done, she exhaled all the chakra and dashed towards Naruto with impressive speed. Naruto knew that if the attack hit, it would be end for him, so focusing on Yuugao's attack point, Naruto charged his sword with fuuton chakra and just waited for the impact. When it happened, a bright light obfuscated Yamato and Kaze's eyes. When they looked again, they saw what appeared to be another stalemate; however Yuugao's arm showed a cut made of wind technique, which came as a surprise to both.

Truth was that when Yuugao's sword hit Naruto's, he focused too much fuuton chakra, which in time created an extension for the sword, thus making a cut in Yuugao's arm. "You won Naruto. I forgot to tell you what you needed to do for this test, but you managed to draw the first blood, so you won" – Said Yuugao to which Naruto looked at her for a while, before seeing she get up and smile at him. "I also would like to thank you Naruto" – smiled Yuugao but Naruto was clueless. "Thank me for what, I didn't do anything" – Stated Naruto to which Yuugao nodded.

"By using Hayate-kun's technique, you managed to save me for the eternal grief of his passing. I'd like to ask you a favor, though. Because of Hayate's passing, I don't have someone who can keep up with me in a fight, so I was wondering if you could be my sparring partner so that my skills don't rust" – Asked Yuugao, earning a nod from Naruto who in turn, explained about his sparring partner, telling that she could tag along with them, earning a smile from Yuugao, before Yamato came and addressed to Naruto. "Congratulations, Naruto. You managed to pass all three of the phases and for that we congratulate you. Our report will be sent to Tsunade-sama who will in turn address to you regarding your promotion. I won't say you are now a jounin, since our report is only a part of the actual test. The Hokage will take into consideration all your career and see if you deserve the promotion. I have to say, though, your skills increased tenfold and I've never been so thrilled to be wrong" – Stated Yamato to which Naruto smiled and nodded.


	17. Jounin evaluation

**Chapter 17 – Jounin evaluation**

After bowing to his proctors, Naruto left towards the place where he normally goes once he sees that the Sun is setting. Yamato told him that he was to arrive at the Hokage's office the next day for the debriefing of the exam results. As he was walking, flashes of his exams passed through his mind and Naruto found that he displayed his abilities well enough, despite almost losing the fuuton ninjutsu part of the exam. The man he fought against was the elite of the elite and surely, no chunnin would measure their abilities with a top notch Anbu, but Naruto was different. While he didn't know he had the experience to pass as a jounin, he trained long enough to know where his skills lay. However, this Anbu member was miles away from him in terms of fuuton manipulation and truth be told, Naruto kind of used him as a goal.

He remembered hearing what the man referred to as air and gravity manipulation and now Naruto was curious as hell. He knew that material about fuuton ninjutsu was scarce around Konoha and the only material about such advanced manipulation was restricted to jounin and higher status. As he arrived at his destination, he jumped at the Yondaime's head, before seating and looking at the view of the sun setting on Konoha, supplying the blond with some perfect alone time to talk to the one man he never got to meet before. "Well, dad, I did good on the jounin trials today. Did you get to see?" – Said Naruto to no one at all, just hoping to one day, get to at least hear the man that was his father almost than sixteen years ago. He knew, though, that it was only his mind wondering about things and quickly, shut up prior to watch the sunlight just leaving the village, thus leaving an orange color glow in the sky.

Suddenly, a familiar voice reached him, thus ending his alone time, but Naruto didn't complain as Aoi jumped from up the mountain and landed right next to the blond, before looking at the sun setting down. "You sure pick some interesting sight, Naruto" – Said Aoi softly, earning a smile from the blond who in turn, looked at his sensei only to see that he was wearing a Konoha Vest and the village headband. "You know it's a little weird to see you dressing up as one of us. I've heard that you were going to become a jounin-sensei, I just didn't figure you'd be enlisted as a Konoha shinobi right away?" – Asked the blond, earning a nod from his sensei. "Well, the vest sure is uncomfortable, but then I guess I have to live with it. That Tsunade was getting to my nerves at how I would be able to take on a genin team and strengthening them up a bit, so I ended up taking it" – Answered Aoi as he sat down next to the blond for a while. Suddenly, the older man remembered today it was Naruto's jounin trials and asked the blond how it was.

The answer, though, didn't satisfy the old man. Naruto got through the doton part nicely and the kenjutsu part as well and that was the subject he most dreaded to take. However, Naruto confessed to the old man that, although he managed to win the fuuton ninjutsu phase, he had to revert to pumping a lot of chakra so that the technique would be able to blow the enemy, thus winning the contest. Aoi berated the blond for trying to compare his level to the elite of the village when he was just a chunnin, planning to be a jounin, thus couldn't hope of being at the same level. But Aoi also knew the blond was stubborn enough to measure himself apart from the elite as he was, sometimes, positioned against 'A' ranked opponents. The two talked for a while, before Aoi told he had to go since he would have to talk to his landlord to see if a bigger apartment was up for rental, thus leaving Naruto alone once more to wonder.

He wondered about a lot of things. He wondered about his girlfriend who was on a mission right now and he didn't know when she was about to return; he wondered about the punishment that Sasuke would receive; he wondered about Orochimaru and Akatsuki and lastly, he wondered if the Hokage would be promoting him to jounin. All those things sort of rushed at the same time inside his mind, but he took a time to breathe for a while. It wouldn't do any good for him to freak out right now. It's not that those things didn't already pass through his mind before. Focusing one more time on the view in front of him, he realized that the sun was already gone and the moon has already taken its place. Getting up from his father's head, Naruto greeted the man goodbye and marched back towards the village for some dinner, before retiring for the night. As he walked on, his eyes caught trace of several familiar faces like Asuma walking together with Kurenai as well as Kakashi reading his favorite porn while wandering around.

He stopped at the ramen stand for some quick dinner and went to his place, before taking his vest off and just resting on his couch for a while. He wasn't much into watching TV and nothing was ever on air that could hold his attention more than a few seconds. So, he just stood there looking to the ceiling, having nothing better to do, when suddenly, someone knocked at his door. Grumbling, he went to open it, revealing Shikamaru standing there. "Hello there Shikamaru, sorry to be rude here, but I wasn't expecting any visitors tonight" – Muttered Naruto, earning a nod from the Nara heir who came in and looked around for a second before saying it would be quick, since he, as well, planned to crash pretty soon. "This is going to be quick, since its past normal hours and its plain troublesome to be awake with no reason. I was just told that Tsunade-sama expects us tomorrow midday at her office, so don't bother waking up early" – Said Shikamaru, earning a nod from Naruto who already knew about that, but thanked the Nara heir anyway. After Shika left the apartment, Naruto closed the door and took off the rest of his clothes before taking a quick shower and, then, went to bed.

* * *

**===With Anko===**

Just arriving at one of the many public bath houses that were located within Fire Country, Anko could only carry her body. This happened to be the tenth house she visited in terms of looking after the pervert, but so far, luck wasn't on her side. Of course, the pervert happened to pass through them all, but unfortunately the woman was too late to all of them as Jiraya didn't stay long enough for her to catch him. This one would be the last of the day, since she was dead tired from travelling so much. Upon remembering Naruto saying that Jiraya would be located in one of the bath houses, Anko thought that she would find him in no time.

However, after passing through ten public bath houses, she began cursing a lot of people. She cursed Jiraya because he wouldn't stand still and be satisfied to spy on only one bath house at a time; he cursed Orochimaru for placing the damned cursed seal on her neck; she cursed even her boyfriend for not giving her more clues about Jiraya's locations. However, in the middle of her curses, her mind suddenly focused on the blond who became the only person she could trust after the Sandaime Hokage died. After Orochimaru ditched her, Anko was, forever, named by everyone, a traitor. Only the Hokage happened to think otherwise, hence why he was the only one worthy of Anko's trust.

After he died, though, Anko was skeptical over who were really worthy of her trust. She confessed that the Godaime Hokage wasn't one, at least not in the beginning. Nonetheless, Anko trusted her simply because she took the old man's position, nothing more. Naruto, on the other hand, was different than the others. He was loyal, trustworthy, not to mention quite strong and reliable. Her trust even increased when they started dating and Naruto shared the ultimate secret with her about his parenthood. It went without saying that she missed him a lot. When they were separated for a month, Anko had to control her urges not to jump on his neck after seeing him again. She, also, felt sad for missing the blonds' jounin trials, but this was something she had to do and she hoped Naruto would understand.

Arriving at the hotel reception, she asked if Jiraya happened to be listed on the guests. The man took a heavy book and landed it hard on his desk, causing, not only a huge sound, but also a little dust because of it. He apologized for the inconvenience and opened the book on today's date to see if the man known as Jiraya was registered as a guest. Anko was always skeptical over finding him through his name at the guest's list, simply because no ninja would be stupid enough to simply register his real name in a book, thus not give away his real position. However, she had to resist the urge not to fall in dismay upon hearing the man confirming Jiraya's presence as a guest. Either the man was really strong or really lucky that no one thought to look at the guest's list before. Anko remembered being able to find some of her kills the same way as this and wondered if, perhaps, men would do this because they appreciate calling attention to themselves. She always knew the man to be a pervert, but she respected his skills as one of the sannin. Needless to say such respect went down a notch. The info about the man's room was easy enough and Anko, then, charged towards the designated room.

After knocking a couple times, without any answer, Anko was downright furious. She happened to travel quite a while and was able to find a lead on the pervert, only for the bastard to disappear once again. She was about to leave and rent a room for the day when the door suddenly opened and the pervert was there answering. "Oi Anko, what are you doing here? Is Naruto here with you as well?" – Asked Jiraya, though looking around to see if the blond was just waiting for his guard to drop, until he came and surprised him. Anko for her part answered that she really needed to talk to the man and Naruto wasn't with her at the time, earning a look in wonder from the white haired sannin, before he clearly got the wrong idea of things. "Seriously Anko, it's not that I don't find you attractive, but you're with Naruto now and it w…" – Said Jiraya, but was stopped once he saw a vein popping from her forehead in response to what the man was insinuating, before she delivered a punch to the man's nose.

"You wish pervert, I wouldn't abandon Naruto-kun, but it's because of him that I'm here right now" – Stated Anko, earning a nod following by a serious nod from Jiraya, before he went back inside and dressed to leave the room and talk. Once outside the hotel room, Jiraya and Anko moved to the Hotel's sushi place and began talking about Anko's reasons to track him and Jiraya had to say, he surely wasn't expecting said reason. The cursed seal was a touchy subject to Jiraya, simply because it was one of the only seals that he didn't know a thing about and he was considered to be a seal master, however the man smiled upon knowing that the girl was doing this not for herself, but for Naruto. Even though he knew that the cursed seal wasn't something Naruto would care at all, he knew about Anko's feelings related to her old master placing a curse on her and how much she wanted it gone for life.

Unfortunately, Jiraya couldn't help her. He didn't have valuable information of the cursed seal so he couldn't use his knowledge on seals for it, simply because he didn't even know Orochimaru's thinking. "Sorry Anko, but I can't help you. Applying my knowledge on seals would be speculating and with Orochimaru, you know better than anyone, that you just don't do that. I tried, once, to study the Uchiha's seal, but I couldn't. It's extremely complex and it changes the effect depending on how much the user depends on it" – Stated Jiraya, earning a nod from Anko who in turn was, in reality, expecting an answer like this from the pervert. She knew that no matter how much deeper ran the hate for Orochimaru, no one could fault the man's genius thinking. The cursed seal was his creation after all, so for someone to find its weakness, it would take months even years locked inside a library to figure out.

"I already knew you'd say that, but I don't want to return home empty handed. Naruto would be pissed at me, with all due reason and I want to at least give him something" – Asked Anko politely, but without avail as Jiraya wasn't so convinced. After all, he still had a few bath houses to visit and few ladies to peep on. Upon voicing it, he saw a vein popping on the woman's forehead and he feared the worst, but instead the lady controlled her urges not to beat the crap out of the pervert and turned to explain. "Listen here pervert; I came all the way here for you to find a way to fix my god damn seal. I missed Naruto's jounin trials for this, even though it was me who pushed him towards going through with it. He'd be devastated if I returned without anything to rely on, so you're coming with me to Konoha so that you could take a good look at my seal. You say you wasn't able to study the Uchiha's because he was already dependant of it, well mine is as dormant as it can be, so it won't be so hard to analyze" – Shouted Anko, before seeing Jiraya's two hands telling her to quit as well as saying that he would go, but only if Anko stopped what she was doing.

"Ok, I'm going already. I'll be collecting my things and we'll meet you here in five. Let me tell you something, though. Naruto wouldn't behave like the way you fear he would. He would be, of course, worried about you, but I can guarantee that negative emotions just don't suit him at all" – Said Jiraya as he turned around and left towards the hotel only to stop and hear Anko whispering in sadness. "I'm just saying that he would have every reason to be angry at me. I'd be if I was in his position. The truth of the whole thing, Jiraya, is that Orochimaru was responsible for every bad thing that happened to my life and it wouldn't surprise me if something were to happen to Naruto-kun if Orochimaru decided to, once again, show his face" – Whispered Anko that last part, telling Jiraya all there is to know about her.

Anko wasn't afraid of the cursed seal or what it could do to her in the future. She was afraid of Snake-Face and the fact that Anko still bares the man's curse on her neck proves that at any giving time, Orochimaru could return to do something to her, even if the seal is dormant right now. "Anko, I know that you have every right to fear that bastard, but hear me out when I say that Naruto wouldn't fall so easily in battle. After all, it was Naruto who was able to beat Orochimaru's protégé wasn't it? He'll be just fine, I'll go get my things and we'll return to meet our new jounin"- Said Jiraya before leaving towards the hotel to collect his belongings.

* * *

**===In Konoha===**

After performing his morning ritual, which consisted of a shower, breakfast and wearing his chunnin attire, Naruto left the apartment towards Shikamaru's house. He knew he was supposed to arrive together with him for whatever purpose he wasn't aware of. So, he chose to go see if the lazy bum was already up. Just as Naruto was about to reach for the stairs, he heard the neighbor's door opening and closing, before revealing his kenjutsu sensei Rikimaru. The two exchanged some words about the training and Rikimaru expressed that Naruto caused some good impression with Yuugao, since now the woman was more social and began to smile every once in a while. Naruto told him about the fight as well as getting himself a sparring partner every once in a while.

Eventually, Rikimaru adjusted his mask and greeted Naruto goodbye before using shunshin to leave. After that it was Naruto's turn, but instead of using chakra to leave, he just jumped towards the next rooftop and looked at the direction he was supposed to make to the Nara's residence. Naruto was glad that some compounds were visible from the top of a building in Konoha. It was easier to find the Rookie 9's house, should need arise. Naruto spotted the Hyuuga and Uchiha compound which in fact, consisted of a very large area. The Inuzuka and Akimichi compound were also very big, but simply because they had to place the many dogs and ….moving on. Upon spotting the Nara residence, Naruto charged towards his destination. It didn't take him more than two minutes until he was already at the front gate, ringing the door bell. It wasn't long until a woman came opening the door, but before Naruto could have the chance to greet her, she turned and screamed back to no one about some lazy bastard that was still asleep and that needed someone to go wake him up, thus telling Naruto all that Naruto needs to know.

"Greetings, Mrs. Nara-san, I'm friends with Shikamaru and I'm here to pick him up to go to the Hokage's office this morning" – Said Naruto with a smile to which Yoshino just looked at him in wonder. She never had any troubles with Uzumaki Naruto, but the Nara family was always neutral as to whom resides within the boy's stomach. Yoshino wasn't a rude person as sometimes people believed her to be, so she invited him inside the house and told him about the fact that Shikamaru was still sleeping, but should be up at any minute. Naruto appreciated and got inside, before seeing Yoshino walking towards the stairs and going upstairs. After the woman disappeared at the second floor, Naruto found himself looking around for some photographs and the house's furniture. He looked at some photos of Shikamaru's family as well as photos with the two different ones, apparently Chouji and Ino's family as well. Naruto remembered about the Ino-Shika-Cho team and now knew how much closed they were to each other. _Konoha became famous for fighting as a team rather than individuals, even if the village did create its legends. _– Thought Naruto as he placed the picture back to the furniture and began walking around until he met another picture that he presumed was taken after Shikamaru passed the chunnin exams, since he was wearing the chunnin vest.

_I wonder what my life would be if my parents were still alive? How different would my life be if I have the love of a mother and father? _All these questions were in Naruto's mind constantly ever since he was told of his parents. He, often, wondered if his father would be proud of him as a ninja. He wondered if his mother would approve of his relationship with Anko-chan. Turning to think about it, he wondered if he had a family, he wouldn't have dated his girlfriend. _Presumably, I wouldn't have suffered as much as I did while growing up and probably being chased by fan-girls simply because I was the son of the Yondaime Hokage….I would be like Sasuke….No, no need to think about what never happened. _– Thought Naruto as he placed another picture he saw on the table.

As he was looking around, he didn't sense someone appearing behind him. "Ah Namikaze-san, it's good to see you" – Said Shikaku, earning a look in surprise from the blond, who until now, was never called by his father's name before. Upon turning, he turned to look that the man was similar to Shikamaru, thus it couldn't be other than his father Shikaku. "Greetings Nara-sama, I'm sorry but what did you call me?" – Asked Naruto, also surprised that the man knew who his father was and, of course, didn't tell him. "Don't worry about me knowing who your father was, Naruto. Only the clan heads of Konoha know that you're the son of the Yondaime. I'm just ashamed to say that, although we of the Nara family, didn't do anything to cause you harm, we also were neutral to the whole thing" – Said the man, looking down in shame from seeing the second generation of his long term friend, the Yondaime.

Naruto for his part wondered if this apology was because of who was his father or the man was really sorry for not lifting a finger to stop the hatred that others felt for him. Nevertheless, Nara Shikaku was the first among the ninja and the citizens, who came along with this, so Naruto would take that into consideration. After all, one couldn't grow up like he did and not learn how to forgive others when they come and ask for Naruto's forgiveness. It was, after all, an act towards the future and Naruto liked that. "No need to apologize Nara-sama, in the end it all worked out. I managed to reach the rank of chunnin, even though I had to move a lot of obstacles out of the way; I managed to find myself a lovely (yet sadistic) girlfriend and life, now, is good for me. I, often times, wondered how my life would turn up if my parents were still alive, but then I guess the sensation of overcoming obstacles wouldn't be the same as it is right now" – Stated Naruto, earning a smile from the Nara elder, who was seeing Minato in Naruto right now.

"You know Naruto, in the beginning, the only resemblance you ever hold from the Yondaime was the looks, but now I can see that his wisdom rubbed it off on you. You have a great future ahead of yourself and I can see you'll, in time, surpass your old man, at least is what I believe now" – Said Shikaku, earning a nod from Naruto who in turn appreciated the gesture and asked about a couple of things that he really hoped to learn about his father. "Nara-sama, I was hoping to ask a few things about my father if I may?" - Began Naruto, only waiting for the man's authorization before he continued. "In all the books I've read of the Yondaime, he was really famous around the Elemental Nations from his techniques called **rasengan **and **hiraishin**. However, there is nothing written that said about his other abilities. I was wondering if you've already fought alongside him when he was still due to create these two techniques" – Asked Naruto, earning a nod from Shikaku who turned to think for a while, before asking for the blond to follow him as he went through the house corridors for a while.

The two only stopped upon arriving at one of the house's living rooms that happened to lead to a huge garden outside. "Your father was a master at the art of fuuinjutsu (sealing art) and hiraishin was created with this art. No one knew how he did it, but by using seals, he was able to travel at long distances in a flash, hence why he got the name 'yellow flash'. Apart from fuuinjutsu, his other abilities were top notch as well from what I can remember. Taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu; all of them were performed admirably by your father. Although, his genjutsu abilities were more in terms of breaking high level ones than using them. The illusion arts simply didn't fit his fighting style, but it didn't mean he could be fooled by one either. This photo right here was taken a long time ago when Minato and I, along with two other jounins, accomplished our first S ranked mission" – Said Shikaku as he showed Naruto a picture that showed his father and Shikaku smiling to the camera. Naruto laughed as he saw that their ninja clothing were all messed up, probably for returning from an S ranked mission and wondered if he and Shikamaru would repeat a picture like that.

"My father was really something, wasn't he? I guess I messed up his image a bit, didn't I? It took longer for me than others to improve, while my father was considered a genius. I guess I can't live up to his legend" – Said Naruto, though Shikaku couldn't denote any sadness in his voice. However, what Naruto was feeling right now is what every son feels upon trying to live up to the father's career. "Naruto, I'm not your father nor I have a function of guidance towards your future, but I can say for certain, that you shouldn't live up to your father's legend" – Said Shikaku as he looked to the clouds in hopes that Minato was listening to the conversation. Naruto, for his part, looked at the man in wonder for what he did and asked him why. "The circumstances in which me and your father lived is different than your and Shika's circumstances. Also, the third shinobi war was happening in its full force at the time, hence how both your father and Hatake Kakashi became famous throughout the elemental nations. You need to create your own legacy. Clearly, you don't want to be called 'second flash' do you? From what I heard, you already managed some incredible feats and you're only a chunnin yet" – Explained Shikaku, before seeing the blond looking up the clouds, also wondering if his father would be saying the same words.

Suddenly, though, Shikamaru appeared right behind him, scratching his eyes, showing both Naruto and Shikaku, how much the man wanted to sleep a little bit more. "Good morning sleeping beauty. The hokage is waiting for us right now, we have to go" – Said Naruto, before hearing Shikamaru mumbling something that resembled 'troublesome blonds' and went to his room, in order to get dressed. Shikaku, though, began laughing out loud and was holding his stomach from sudden lack of air. When Naruto asked about it, Shikaku just apologized and said that Minato once said similar things to him in the past.

Ten minutes later, Naruto was walking towards the Hokage's office next to a mumbling Shikamaru who was cursing both his mother for waking him up and the blond next to him for inducing his mother to waking him earlier than expected. "Quit bitching about it Shikamaru. You slept for ten whole hours and you wished to sleep more" – Said Naruto, not quite believing that the Nara heir would be so lazy as to sleep as much as he did. Shikamaru for his part, glared daggers at the blond, but waved it off since it would be too troublesome to argue about this, so he changed subjects. "So, how was your jounin exam, Naruto? I heard and felt some of it, but I didn't get to see the result" – Asked Shikamaru before seeing Naruto smile and explain that he passed two of three phases without much trouble, but the second one was trouble. "Although I'm not sure the hokage would pass me to jounin. I don't have as much missions as you did and I've only been a chunnin for a year, while you're already four years at the rank. Clearly, you deserve more than me" – Explained Naruto.

"Huh, I wouldn't say that. Sure, you're less time as chunnin than all of us are, but your skills make up for it. I bet those tremors I felt the day of the exams were caused by you, right? So, you certainly have the skills to be promoted" – Said Shikamaru, earning a nod from Naruto, before he changed subjects and said about how much he enjoyed having a conversation with his father to which Shikamaru smiled and said that he doesn't find his father's talks troublesome, which was a good thing. "Seriously, Shikamaru; I'll bet 'troublesome' was your first word as a baby" – Said Naruto before hearing Shikamaru mumbling yet again about 'troublesome blonds'.

* * *

**===At the Hokage's office===**

Inside the office, were both Naruto and Shikamaru's exam proctors telling to the hokage about their reports on the jounin hopeful's abilities and test results. Shikamaru's test was the first and Kurenai explained about Shikamaru's test. "Hokage-sama, I was the proctor of Shikamaru's test and I can attest that he passed with flying colors. As per your instructions, Shikamaru was subjected to high level questions while I was placing images inside his mind, using B ranked genjutsu. Not only he wasn't bothered by them, but he also managed a top score of 95% of the questions. He, surely, has the skills to become a jounin. I believe that he, also, should begin elemental manipulation very soon since he already has one manipulation, but that will be in the future" – Explained Kurenai, earning a nod from the Hokage.

"Thank you Kurenai. I already knew that lazy bum would pass the exams. He sure is lazy but when he's tested, he could bring anyone around here to shame. Also, he already showed me the skills of a leader while in missions and I'm certain that he has what it takes to be promoted. Now, on to Naruto, Yamato why don't you begin by explaining what Naruto's test was" – Asked the Hokage to which Yamato nodded and turned to the rest of the group. "Right, as Hokage-sama here explained, I was the one of the proctors for Naruto's jounin trials. The test was divided into three phases: doton ninjutsu, fuuton ninjutsu and kenjutsu battle. The doton ninjutsu was proctored by me; the fuuton was proctored by Anbu member codenamed Kaze and the last phase was conducted by Anbu member Yuugao. Each of us will report our evaluation regarding each phase and seeing as doton was the first, I'll begin" – Said Yamato, beginning the explanation.

"My test involved using both offensive and defensive doton ninjutsu and I can say with most certainty, that Naruto surprised my highest expectations regarding the element. I happened to know that he was taught really well by Aoi-san and Kakashi-senpai, since he was able to connect well-versed attacks and manage to create strong defenses up to the point of even using iron manipulation, hence why I believe he can now be considered a master at doton manipulation at the very least. In the end, Naruto even forced me to abandon the doton restriction and resort to mokuton techniques. Needless to say, he passed my test easily" – Reported Yamato, earning a nod from Tsunade who thought of Aoi and how much he was able to teach Naruto in only a month. After Yamato spoke, Anbu member Kaze approached and begins explaining the second phase of Naruto's exam.

"Greetings Hokage-sama, I was the proctor for Naruto's jounin trails and I tested him in fuuton ninjutsu. His first assignment was to use fuuton ninjutsu in order to slice projectiles in the air using purely ninjutsu. His average was above excellent, missing only three shurikens out of twenty. The second phase, though, he didn't impress me at first, however that was because it was visible that Naruto never encountered someone as proficient in fuuton ninjutsu as he was before. After he assembled my abilities, Naruto used a technique that could level an entire training field and sent me flying easily. Actually, if it hadn't been for Yamato's mokuton ninjutsu grabbing me, I could have encountered a mountain and got seriously hurt. He passed my test, although both I and he knows that he needs to improve the area a bit" – Explained Kaze, earning a nod from Tsunade who after, looked at Yuugao for her report on Naruto's kenjutsu abilities.

"I'm the last one and third proctor of Naruto's test. I was his kenjutsu opponent. His attacks are well positioned and don't leave easy openings for me to attack. The same can be said about his defensive abilities. It's very efficient and it took me quite a while to understand his style as almost impenetrable. To someone untrained in the arts of kenjutsu, Naruto's movements are flawless, but for someone who's well versed at the art, I could see that Naruto has a one quarter of a second flaw on his form. Just after he's positioned to defend a vertical attack, he takes a quarter of a second to switch the defensive movement. Mind all of you that this isn't a weakness in any way, shape or form since my ex-boyfriend Gekkou Hayate had the same thing and was considered one of the best amongst us kenjutsu users. I'll try correcting this with him as we spar from time to time. Now, as to his test, since he was able to take the first blood, he passed the test, hence why I believe he has all the skills necessary for the jounin position" – Reported Yamato, earning a nod and an overall smile from Tsunade.

"Naruto has the necessary skills, but he lacks the experience of undergoing a specific number of missions that Shikamaru already did. Nevertheless, while Shikamaru has everything that a jounin leader needs while Naruto has the skills of a jounin warrior. Together, those two could work well while on a tough mission. If I were to place them together with one or more experienced jounins, I'm sure they will be a recognized force" – Said Tsunade, more like thinking out loud, but all the people present were concurring with the hokage's assessment. "Well, that's settled. Although both have different abilities, both of them are qualified for the jounin position. Also they will be tested right away as I'll place them together on an A ranked mission near Lightning Country. It will require both their abilities and I'm sure they will succeed. All of you are dismissed, they'll be arriving here shortly" – Said Tsunade, before seeing all of them except for Shizune leaving the office via shunshin.

After all of them left, Shizune addressed Tsunade as to her certainty over Naruto's promotion seeing that he didn't possess the necessary missions to qualify him for the jounin position. Tsunade nodded to her assistant and told her that if Naruto didn't leave the village with Jiraya, he would've done the same amount of missions thus wouldn't be behind his peers. "You have to remember Shizune that Naruto trained under S ranked shinobi for a little more than three years. Not only that, but he also managed to increase his abilities in a flash on his own, which it's pretty amazing. The experience will be added with time as I'm sure to position him under strategic positions in order for him to learn the many aspects of mission completion and managing to overcome the obstacles that happen to appear while on a mission" – Explained Tsunade, earning a nod from Shizune who dismissed the issue, before asking which mission Naruto and Shikamaru would be performing and would there be another member with them. Tsunade, however, smiled and looked to her assistant, just waiting for her to remember the last mission request that arrived, before she saw Shizune's eyes grow in realization.

"Clearly you don't expect those two to be able to perform that missions Tsunade-sama. They're fresh jounin…" – Said Shizune, trying to dissuade the Hokage out of this, simply because of the fact that said mission was easily passed for an S ranked missions if things get too complicated. The hokage, though, wanted to test the two of them and her order would be passed through no matter what. "Shizune, Shikamaru is one of my best strategists and Naruto's a god damn power house with enough chakra at his disposal to battle any enemy bordering 'A' ranked. Just in case, I'm setting Ino to go with them as well, so that they get a medical-nin as assistance. Now, they will be here shortly, could you call Ino here for me, Shizune?" – Asked the Hokage, earning a nod from the woman, before walking towards the door and then, heading to the hospital.

It didn't take long for both Naruto and Shikamaru to arrive at the Hokage's office and Tsunade began by giving them their proctor's evaluation on their exams. As she talked, both youngsters were surprised to hear that they managed to surprise their evaluators as much as the hokage was telling them about it. Naruto, for sure, wondered if Kaze said some bad things about his fuuton abilities, but according to Tsunade, the man said that the blond was almost a master at the element, but just needed to improve a little bit. Shikamaru, for his part, already knew about his results, seeing that Kurenai happened to tell him after he finished the test, however he wasn't entirely thrilled to become a jounin for the same reason he didn't want to raise to chunnin at the time. The man was a lazy bum and of course, the less responsibility the better. But of course, things don't work like he expected and he already knew what the Hokage would say next.

"So based on your skills and experience, both of you are now jounins of Konoha, congratulations. I expect both of you to wear this dark green vest with pride and dignity. You, both, now are part of the shinobi elite and as such, you'll be sent to much dangerous missions as well as missions that require a much reserved expertise. Now, you guys are in luck, since I already have a mission for both of you plus one to attend. We'll wait for her to arrive here before I can explain what the mission entails" – Stated Tsunade, earning a look in surprise from Naruto from the promotion and a sigh in dismay from Shikamaru whose thoughts became reality. Tsunade, of course, expected that reaction from Shikamaru and explained that giving his mission history; it was only natural that he would become a jounin eventually.

"Naruto, I have to say I'm quite proud of promoting you to jounin so soon. Just like Yamato said, you surely impressed us all with your skills and I'm sure you'll grow even stronger than you are now" – Said Tsunade, earning a nod and a smile from Naruto, before someone knocked at the door and Ino entered. The response was immediate. Ino screamed towards Naruto for what he did so far to her and Shikamaru sighed in dismay once more. "Well, hello there Ino-san, long time no see. How have you been?" – Asked Naruto, acting all innocent, earning snarling from Ino who in turn, charged towards the blond in speeds that astounded those present. However, when Ino grabbed Naruto's neck, she was completely caught by surprise when Naruto vanished in smoke and in his place an empty scroll appeared that was located next to Tsunade's office and in its place, Naruto appeared. "Ino, there is no way to great a friend, isn't it?" – Smiled Naruto. Meanwhile, Shikamaru was explaining what happened to the Hokage.

After a while, Tsunade sighed in dismay and told Ino to calm down and for Naruto to say sorry for teasing her so. Naruto complied immediately, showing his hand in sorry, but Ino just rolled her eyes, thus leaving at that. Naruto, for his turn, didn't mind, since he was acting under orders, so he turned and shrugged his shoulders at the hokage who sighed and addressed the new team. "Ok, then, you three are about to be sent to an A ranked mission towards Lightning Country, and I don't want to hear anyone complaining. Two days ago, our client, a business merchant called Iwashi Kaito received some threatening letters to his and his family's lives. According to the man, the letter was sent by Kumo missing-nins who wished to take over his land. Normally, the share fact that missing-nins are involved, this mission is already a B ranked one, however there are rumors that one of the missing-nins is **Kumo's Ikazuchi Kyoui** (Thunder Menace), so it will be a A ranked mission, with the potential of becoming a S ranked one, in case he is really behind this threats" – Reported Tsunade, before Ino raised her hand and asked about this thunder menace to which Shikamaru responded.

"Satoshi Hino, AKA **Kumo's Ikazuchi Kyoui** (Thunder Menace) was solely responsible for granting Kumo victory against the Mist some time ago. According to the bingo book, he was responsible for killing over fifty shinobis, including one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist, although which one, no one knows. He's a master at lightning affinity and uses it to its better capability. Tsunade-sama, if this man appears, there is no way we can deal with him, hence why I believe a forth and better experienced member must be appointed for this mission, just in case" – Advised Shikamaru, earning a nod from Tsunade who congratulated the strategist on the wise insight. "Normally, I would Shikamaru, however since Hino has a lightning affinity, only one with fuuton mastery, can overcome this guy in battle, hence why I'm sending Naruto along with you" – Said Tsunade, earning a look in surprise from said blond, before seeing Tsunade smile at him and then, turning to Ino for her role in the mission.

"Ino, you're going in order to supply medical treatment for both Shikamaru and Naruto" – Stated Tsunade to which Ino nodded, before Shikamaru asked one more question. "How many missing-nins are we talking about here Tsunade-sama?" – Asked Shikamaru to which Tsunade responded. "The client mentioned four to five, including **Kumo's Ikazuchi Kyoui** (Thunder Menace), but they are composed of chunnins and genins, so I'm sure you won't have problems with this mission. Naruto is well versed in fighting tough opponents, so he'll play a more active role in this mission and you, Shikamaru, will be the mission leader. In this scroll, you'll find the client's letter and his specifications to where he is going to meet you three. Good luck to all three of you, dismissed" – Said Tsunade.

* * *

**===With Anko===**

"Could you move your perverted ass faster, dammit" – Shouted Anko. It's been a while since they left the hotel, but Jiraya was making his best to piss Anko off by refusing to go faster than walking towards Konoha. "Anko, I agreed to go back to Konoha with you, but I never agreed to get there as fast as possible. Don't worry, though, I believe Tsunade won't be sending Naruto to any…" – Said Jiraya, before he saw a bird approaching and landing on his shoulder, before giving him a little scroll. Upon hearing Anko asking what it was, Jiraya's serious face suddenly worried him. "Well, it says here that Naruto was recently promoted to jounin and was sent on a mission towards Kumo. Huh, I guess Tsunade-hime didn't waste time and sent the brat for a mission. Well, that proves that we don't need to rush Anko" – Said Jiraya, before beginning his walk towards the village with a smile on his face.

Anko was worried for her boyfriend, but waved it off as the news of his promotion made her extremely happy. "I can't believe he made it to jounin" – Said Anko as she followed Jiraya to the village. The pervert, for his time, nodded and said that Naruto is truly most surprising ninja in existence.

After a while of walking, Anko asked Jiraya about what he has planned for her cursed seal once they arrived in Konoha. Jiraya began to think for a while and said that he would need to take some notes he made on the Uchiha's mark and begin from there. "Your cursed seal, Anko, is less advanced then the Uchiha's, hence how you're able to control it better than Sasuke. Also, seeing that the Uchiha was recently captured by Naruto, I'd ask for permission from the Hokage to study his seal once more to see if I can make some breakthrough" – Said Jiraya, earning a nod from Anko whose curiosity was satisfied, at least for the moment.

* * *

**===Inside a unknown cavern===**

In an unknown location, one snake-face was seen destroying his entire laboratory from anger. Minutes ago, his henchmen Kabuto informed him of his failure at retrieving Uchiha Sasuke because one Morino Ibiki and a couple of Anbus were guarding the boy, making it impossible for Kabuto to capture Sasuke. However, the word failure was nonexistent to the sannin and he was now taking his anger on his failed experiments and voicing his need to destroy that pitiful village once and for all. "Kabuto, prepare some of our group and go to Konoha once more to retrieve my vessel. I know for a fact that Tsunade-hime wouldn't kill him for he has the sharingan, so he'll be sentenced to life imprisonment at the very least. Don't fail me once more, Kabuto. You know the consequences for failing me" – Threatened Orochimaru, earning a nod from Kabuto who in turn got up and fixed his glasses a bit before leaving the room.

"I swear that once I have the sharingan, Konoha will be my first target of destruction, Ku ku ku" – Laughed Orochimaru uncontrollably.

* * *

**===With Shikamaru and co===**

After getting each one's supplies, the team was now heading towards the rendezvous point with the client. As they jump through the trees, Shikamaru was explaining to the group about their client and which type of products does the man operate. "Ok, then, according to the mission scroll, our client is a sword dealer and it's one of the few business dealers that happen to sell his products with Kumo. According to his letter, the missing-nins not only want his land, but also his weapons. Iwashi Kaito's swords happens to be famous amongst Lightning Country, but he makes only light-weight swords like wakizashis and kodashis, so his main customer is, of course, a ninja village, AKA Kumo. We will be travelling for a day and a half, before we reach the client's property, however there is a possibility that the enemy already knows that the client contracted us for help, so they will be ready for us. That's where you come in Naruto. Ino will be our medic-nin, so we'll protect her at all costs, also you will be on the battle front and I'll be protecting the client and his family together with Ino, any questions" – Stated Shikamaru, earning a nod in negative from both Ino and Naruto, before the group initiated their travel once more.


	18. The birth of a new style

**Chap****ter 18 – Birth of a new style**

Mitarashi Anko was walking casually towards returning to the village. She and Jiraya were a few miles away from reaching the hidden village in the leaves and she was already thinking of using her snakes to cause the pervert immeasurable pain and suffer. She wondered how the hell could her boyfriend stand this guy for three whole years and not lose his mind or even get to kill him. On more than one occasions, Jiraya would ditch Anko for peeping on public bathhouses, doing his so called 'research' . Right now, she was waiting inside a dango restaurant, while hearing the pervert giggling like a school girl while looking at what appeared to be three bitches (Anko's thinking) bathing inside a river nearby. She could also hear the laughing noise coming from the women and Anko had to pity such innocence. Civilians and shinobis were pretty much different species of human beings.

One couldn't hope to match even one similar characteristic between the two of them and even some faint sense of similarity is broken, when push comes to shove. Anko, once, met a woman at one of Konoha's public bath houses who happened to be a civilian. Needless to say, the conversation didn't exactly exist between the two of them. Anko's mind was driven towards the way of the ninja while the woman was more interested in speaking about fashion and beauty products. While a girl, no matter if she's a kunoichi or not, always thinks of fashion, Anko wasn't that much interested in the subject. However, the thought of dressing up nicely for Naruto did occur inside her mind. Anko, often, would imagine teasing Naruto with her looks and get to see his face while drooling at her. Of course, the thought of seeing Naruto rip everything apart and just ravage her was way way better, so in the end, thinking too much about fashion wasn't really worth it.

Thinking of Naruto, Anko really wanted to surprise him when he returned from his mission towards Lightning Country. She still wondered if Naruto would be pissed at her from missing his jounin trials, but then she remembered Jiraya saying that Naruto wouldn't do something like this. The cursed seal was, indeed, Anko's worst nightmare and she couldn't be truly happy with her life when she looks at the mirror everyday and remember her old sensei sinking his teeth through her flesh. Just the bear thought of Orochimaru made her skin crawl in pure hatred and despair. She really wanted to apologize for the blond but deep inside her heart, she knew that as long as the cursed seal exists, she wouldn't be one hundred percent free.

Finishing the last dango stick, she looked up and saw that Jiraya was walking towards her direction while massaging a big bump on his head. Served the pervert right, she thought presuming that one of the girls did that, after discovering that they were being pepped at. She couldn't help but laugh at the pervert's situation and wondered if Naruto got to see this situation often. "Serves you right, pervert" – Said Anko, before getting up and continued to walk towards Konoha while hearing Jiraya muttering about the fact that even without chakra, those girls could hit really hard, which, alone, earned a snicker from the woman. "That strength is reserved for damn perverts like you" – Concluded Anko, earning a snort from the sannin who in turn called Anko hypocritical, because of her sexual adventures with a certain blond, followed by yet another school girl giggling.

After hearing that, Anko looked at Jiraya with looks that would scare even Snake-face. "You know, this time, I won't beat you. However, that doesn't mean I won't deal with you accordingly" – Said Anko, before sending a couple of snakes to bite Jiraya straight at the man's neck, before seeing the pervert dissolve into mud and appear next to her displaying a not so thrilled look on his face. Anko wasn't fazed, though and commented that he should see this coming after spying on her alone time with her boyfriend.

Jiraya snorted once more, but said no more. _I guess I shouldn't dwell on it further, I've already enough material to make my new book any way, he he he. A ninja prodigy who survived countless battles, before getting to meet a fierce and yet sadistic kunoichi. Together they find comfort through the other's arms…he he he it's perfect. _

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

Oblivious to the fact that he was being used for Jiraya's porn, Naruto was found jumping through the trees while following Shikamaru and Ino towards the client's property. Naruto wondered about the client being a renowned sword maker and wondered if perhaps, he could acquire one for him. Naruto was thinking about his kenjutsu abilities and wondered if perhaps, he could begin using two swords instead of only his katana. He heard stories of ninjas using two swords that complemented each other. However, for Naruto to be able to incorporate another sword to his fighting style he would have to, maybe, purchase a ninjato which would be perfect for incorporating his fighting style.

Of course, Iwashi Kaito was well-known through the elemental nations for his swords, so if Naruto were to purchase one from him, would cause a huge gap on his savings, but the thought of updating his kenjutsu style overcame any thought of economy. Besides, now that he was promoted to jounin, he will receive bigger paychecks, thus having enough income to buy one of the man's swords. Outside Naruto's mind, the group was now crossing the border between Fire and Lightning Country. The client's house was just a few miles away from the border, so it would take only a couple minutes to arrive. Shikamaru was, perhaps, apprehensive because of the man his team would be facing. Satoshi Hino was responsible for a lot of deaths and for someone such as him to become a missing-nin, meaning he isn't bound to the order of the kage; it would certainly be a troublesome situation to say the least. Looking back at the blond, Shikamaru wondered if Naruto would be strong enough to deal with a man of Satoshi's caliber.

Shikamaru remembered hearing from Asuma, that Naruto was being trained by Iwa's Diamond Fang who was rumored to rival the Yondaime in terms of skill. However, while being trained by him, Naruto didn't possess the same battle experience needed to beat Satoshi and maybe the Nara heir considered aiding the blond against the man. _Well, only time will tell. We still need to verify how many missing-nins are trying to attack the client and Naruto might have to help me in dealing with the weaker ones first, before we can deal with Satoshi. The problem, now, will be protecting Ino from harm and also deal with the missing-nins. Damn, Tsunade could at least place another jounin with us. _

At some point, Naruto joined with Shikamaru before he saw the look of concern on his face. Upon asking, Naruto heard the man's thoughts about how tough it will be to complete this mission. Naruto couldn't help but agree, though, as fighting a legend is hard enough without having to worry about both protecting the client and protecting the mission's medic-nin. "We'll need numbers for this mission and I can supply them for us, however I'm not sure if my clones will be enough to deal with the rest of the missing-nins" – Stated Naruto, earning a nod from Shikamaru.

"According to the client, apart from Satoshi, the rest of them are either genin or chunnin level shinobi. Also, since the man is a well-known swords dealer, it's safe to assume he would know a thing or two, about rating his enemies. I'll have to leave Satoshi alone to you, until we can be certain that both the client and Ino are safe. After that, I'll join you and we can deal with Satoshi together" – Concluded Shikamaru to which Naruto agreed to it. Truth be told, Naruto didn't think much of the man because he was still due to meeting the man, however for a man to take on so much kiri shinobi and be victorious, that was saying much.

A while later the gang arrived at the property before making themselves known to the house's servants. In moments, they stood before Iwashi Kaito, before bowing in respect. The man's presence, alone, demanded respect. He was tall and definitely muscular. Everyone could see that the man trained himself through exhaustion to acquire those muscles. "So, I can see Tsunade send me some fine shinobi to aid me in defending my land" – Said the man, as he eyed each one of the shinobi in front of him. Shikamaru, however, looked at him in question. "Forgive us Kaito-san, but I believe our mission was to protect you, not aid you in battle" – Asked Shikamaru, before hearing the man laughing quite a lot.

"No, my friend, I'm afraid that old hag of yours misinterpreted my request. I'd kill myself if I hired ninjas to do the fighting while i just sit and watch. Normally, I would be able to do this on my own, had that fool Satoshi not dragged a little army with him. That imbecile lost a battle against me so he arranged for some goons in order to take my swords. Don't worry, though, I can see you three are very skilled in your respective fields, but seeing as I'll be fighting as well, I need to know of your abilities. Seeing as you're the leader, you can begin by explaining both your and your team's abilities" – Asked Kaito, earning a frown in dismay from Shikamaru, but then again, seeing that they not only don't need to protect the client, but also receive a new aid in battle, he was relieved. Little did he know, though, that it wouldn't be so easy.

"Well, starting with me Shikamaru, I descend from the Nara clan, thus being master of shadow manipulation. Furthermore, my skills lay in leadership and strategy. Moving on, our team's medic-nin Ino Yamanaka, not only master of her family's mind jutsus, but also one of Konoha's top kunoichis in the field of medicine, being apprenticed to the Hokage herself. Last but not least, our team's warrior Uzumaki Naruto apprenticed by Copy-Cat ninja Kakashi and Iwa's Diamond Fang. Naruto here possess many abilities such as kenjutsu and elemental ninjutsu" – Reported Shikamaru, earning a whistle in respect from Kaito. Both names Kakashi and Aoi are famous throughout the elemental nations and if the blond managed to acquire both their abilities, then this Naruto would be of good aid to him.

"Tell me something boy, I happen to know of Iwa's Diamond Fang and I respect his abilities a lot. I want to see with my eyes if you really received his tutelage. Also, if what your leader said of your abilities are true, then you'll join me in the front lines" – Challenged Kaito, before seeing a smile on Naruto's face, earning a smile on his face in return. Kaito is a famous samurai and as such, once meeting a worthy opponent, one couldn't help but want to test his abilities. Naruto, for his part, was drooling. He would have the chance of testing his kenjutsu abilities this man in front of him and couldn't wait to see how he would fair against him. "How do you want to test me Kaito-san?" – Asked Naruto, earning a nod in response before seeing the man asking for Naruto to follow.

After a while of walking, the group entered in what appeared to be a dojo. Saito walked towards the Black Buddha statue in the middle of the dojo before picking up his katana. The weapon, itself, was exquisite. The hilt was large enough for the man's hands to hold it and the scabbard was well-designed. It composed of wood-craftsmanship while engraved with a dragon whose tails began close to the hilt and ended all the way up the scabbard. When Kaito took the sword off, Naruto could see the amount of dedication that Kaito placed on his swords. The blade was clean and because of the sunlight entering through the dojo's window, the metal was reflecting it like a mirror. "Since I'm a samurai, I wouldn't be able to know much about your so called ninjutsu, however when it comes to fighting with a katana, us samurai have a much better understanding of the art than you ninjas do. I want to see your abilities, son" – Said Kaito, before seeing Naruto nod and walk for a while before poisoning himself in front of Kaito.

Naruto took his sword off the scabbard and positioned the sword by holding it with his two hands up his right shoulder, just next to his face. Kaito smiled in response of seeing this style after so long. The man just positioned his sword forward in standard samurai position and turned to observe Naruto's stance for a while. One of his tests was to see how far Naruto's resolve is as well as his patience. For a moment there, nobody moved as both Kaito and Naruto just remained in their respective positions, content to just observe the opponent.

However, for those unfamiliar with the way of sword fighting, both Ino and Shikamaru were unease with the situation. Samurais were a strange concept to shinobis, but they understood Kaito's reasons. However, both Ino and Shikamaru's focus were directed at Naruto. Naruto was well known as a chakra powerhouse and a warrior throughout Konoha and seeing him just doing nothing for several minutes was really unnerving. Kaito, for his part, smiled at his opponent. For a ninja, Naruto actually knew how to fight as a samurai and Kaito wondered if Aoi taught him how to fight. Now, normally, Kaito wouldn't attack first, since his style relied heavily on swift counter-attacks with his katana, however seeing that this was a test of another swordsman's skills, he decided to attack first.

Naruto, for his part, was already at the state where he could pretty much hear the sound of a muscle being bent, which in turn allowed him to react to the attack accordingly. When he heard Kaito's leg muscles begin to stiffen, he knew that the opponent would attack by using his strong muscles for propulsion, so the blond was prepared. True to the blond's wanderings, Kaito used his legs to impulse his movement while positioning both his arms up for a vertical attack. Seeing the movement, Naruto focused some chakra to his arms and positioned his sword horizontally in order to defend the attack. When the swords collided, Naruto used the momentum to spin his body and attack Kaito with a quick slash from his sword, aiming the opponent's left shoulder, before seeing Kaito roll over on the ground, thus evading the attack. Kaito, then, took the offensive and positioned himself for a straight-forward attack, before being blocked by Naruto's swift movement.

Naruto didn't wait too long and charged against Kaito, but this time with a down-up attack from Kaito's right side, however Kaito positioned his sword in order to reach Naruto's sword before the movement was complete, thus hindering the attack completely and exposing Naruto's left side completely. Holding his sword with one arm, Kaito used the other in order to punch Naruto's face, but to no avail, since the blond ducked and aimed a low kick at the man's legs. Recovering his blade, Kaito jumped a little bit in order to avoid Naruto's kick, before rolling forward, positioning on Naruto's back, before moving in for the killer blow that would strike Naruto's neck. However, just as he stopped the sword near Naruto's neck, the blond managed to position his inches from Kaito's heart, thus revealing the match outcome; a stalemate. Kaito was already impressed with the boy's skills before the outcome of the match, but thought that he was still beneath his abilities when he moved to deliver the killing blow, however when he saw Naruto's sword positioned near his heart, he began to look at the blond with different eyes.

Ino and Shikamaru were easily astonished by the level of fighting as their eyes couldn't quite follow the fight. However, it was not because of lack of skills, but rather looking at the fight at the wrong way. Both of them were looking at the weapons, instead of looking at the adversaries, hence why they couldn't keep up. They were still due to learn that the weapon is nothing but an extension of the fighter. Back to Naruto and Kaito, their swords were already back to the scabbard and both were now talking amongst each other. "I see Aoi taught you well, Naruto. I couldn't see any flaws in your style and the strength that came with the blows were good enough, however I know you used chakra to overcome my muscles, since without it, you'd be beaten fairly easy" – Said Kaito as he smiled at Naruto.

"Not to mention that the sword wouldn't be able to handle the strain alone, thus shattering in pieces" – Concluded Naruto, earning a nod from Kaito.

Naruto, then, recollected his thoughts about the man's swords and discussed about acquiring a ninjato in order to complement his fighting style to which Kaito nodded and thought about it. "Yes, although not quite popular, using two swords could actually swing to your advantage. You have fast movements and I could feel the power behind the swings. However, as I'm sure you already know, a second katana wouldn't be advisable in this situation. A ninjato, though, would be perfect for you. Actually, ninjatos happen to be my master piece and I happen to know that my ninjatos are being used by Kumo's Anbu shinobi" – Explained Kaito, earning a nod from Naruto, who in turn asked about the price of such a weapon.

"Unfortunately, the last ones I made were recently sold to Suna, but fear not my blond friend, since I happen to be placing a lot of my work towards a special one, these days. Once it's done, I'll be happy to supply them for you seeing as you carry within you, the skills of Iwa's Diamond Fang. Aid me in this battle Naruto and I'll happily give it to you" – Offered Kaito, earning a look in wonder from Naruto, before the man explained that money wasn't an issue, since he received quite a lot of orders and that worthy kenjutsu fighters were hard to come by these days.

After turning around to see Shikamaru, Kaito told them to rest because of the trip, in order to be fully rested for tomorrow. The group appreciated the offer of hospitality, and Ino and Shika moved to pick a room and rest for the day. Naruto, though, simply walked casually towards a lagoon located at the house's main garden and then kneeled next to a little fountain, while closing his eyes and hearing the sound of the water. Kaito thought about asking him if he was tired, but thought against it. The blond caught his interest enough, so he went to his office and continue to make Naruto's ninjato.

* * *

**===the next day===**

After everyone woke up and had their respective breakfast, the group proceeded to devise a suitable strategy against the enemy and that's when Shikamaru come in. The Nara heir wrote a list of items to take into consideration, kind of like Naruto and Kaito's moving on to the front lines and engage the enemies while Shikamaru would stand behind for assistance purposes. Also, since Ino was the group's medic-nin, she had to be protected as well, so Shikamaru would both be as backup for Naruto and Kaito as well as a protection for Ino.

Kaito explained about the group's objective which in turn was to take possession of his weapon storage. Shikamaru nodded and explained about his plan on how the group would be able to guard the house and Naruto will be the one responsible for this area. According to Shikamaru, since Naruto possess more chakra than a number of jounins put together, he would summon ten kage bunshins and set them around the premises, earning a nod from the blond and a smile from Kaito, thinking about this other boy Tsunade sent to aid him.

"Naruto and I should be able to deal with the opposition easily. I will fight against the strongest of them Satoshi while you will take on the rest of his goons. Don't worry, though, I've already fought them and I assure you that with your kenjutsu skills alone, you won't have a problem" – Explained Kaito, before seeing that exciting smile he also longed for. Naruto for his part, wasn't thinking of using kenjutsu, since he would have to minimize the number of opponents before using his sword and if what Saito said was true, then Naruto would have to face quite a lot of missing-nins. Not that he minded, though, as compared to his sensei, it's like comparing ants to lions.

Kaito exchanged looks with the blond for a while, before grinning in response to his answer. "I'm happy to tell you kid that your ninjato will be ready faster than I anticipated. Somehow, I got this urge to see you spread your fame throughout the elemental nations by using my sword and I know you won't let me down" – Stated Kaito, earning a nod in appreciation from the blond.

After wrapping everything, Shikamaru stated that they would wait for the enemy to appear to which the group nodded and moved outside to place themselves outside Kaito's residence.

**

* * *

****===Inside Tsunade's office===**

In front of Tsunade, were Anko and Jiraya as they explained to her, their intention to analyze Sasuke's cursed seal as a way of learning how to counter it, earning a thinking pose from the Hokage. She considered arresting Sasuke in the Anbu special prison, but she feared the council's wrath if she did so. The sentence alone was hard to come by and Tsunade had to break the table in anger from saying that only the hokage has the authority in matters regarding shinobi; stating, as well, that Sasuke was to be treated jus t like any other missing-nin who betrayed the village and even had the nerve of joining Konoha's worst enemy.

Homura and Koharu were persistent with their policies regarding the last Uchiha, but none of them wanted to be hit by Tsunade's god like strength, so they accepted Sasuke's punishment. "Jiraya, I'll grant you a week to study the Uchiha in ways you see fit. Anko, however, won't be joining you as I have need for her elsewhere. Anko, it appears that we have a case of extreme poisoning at the hospital and we're in need of your expertise in the subject, go there and call for Shizune, she'll supply you with information" – Ordered Tsunade, earning a nod from Anko, before she proceeded to leave, however she stopped dead in her tracks and turned to ask about Naruto and if he was mad at her for not being here for his jounin trials.

Tsunade smiled and assured her that Naruto wouldn't do such a thing, as well as explaining his report to the woman and the pervert. Anko was relieved and appreciated the report, before opening the door and headed towards the hospital.

Meanwhile, Tsunade and Jiraya were inside her office waiting for Anko to leave before discuss the real issue regarding his withdraw. "Ok, pervert, what did you discover about Akatsuki's leader Pein?" – Asked Tsunade, earning a serious nod followed by a dejected one as the sannin looked down to the ground in shame. Tsunade looked at her long-time companion and wondered what could've happened to send his usually broad smile into a serious reaction.

"First of all, I captured one rain-nin and interrogated him for information regarding their leader. Turns out, that, yes, Hanzou was beaten by their leader who was now in charge of Ame village. I also managed to locate the man's base of operations before using the toads for information gathering….When I saw the man's identity, regret was the first word that came to mind. Do you remember what happened after our defeat by Hanzou the salamander, right?" – Asked Jiraya, earning a nod from Tsunade.

"You stayed there training what appeared to be three orphans to better defend themselves, but what is this have to do with Akatsuki's leader?" – Asked Tsunade, before waiting for the answer she knew was coming. "One of these children possessed the rinnegan back then and the leader's eyes were the same as Nagato. Although instead of Nagato's appearance, the rinnegan eyes were being used by the other child Yahiko …" – Explained Jiraya.

Tsunade, now, fully understood the reason behind Jiraya's unhappy mood, since it was him who took those kids for a year and a half to train them for their protection and now those children were the ones responsible for capturing the bijuus, as well as harming Naruto. "So, what else did you discover about him?" – Asked Tsunade, trying to change the focus. Looking up, Jiraya nodded and grabbed his notebook. "Apart from Pein, also the girl named Konan is one of their members. She possess a bloodline that enables her in manipulating paper. Also, the last one to fill the nine members of Akatsuki is S ranked Kusa Missing-nin called Zetsu. The guy is an information specialist and a spy. Rumors said that his plant like body allows him to travel beneath the ground and through the trees, although his fighting skills remained unknown" – Explained Jiraya, before Tsunade nodded and asked him to send this information to all the great hidden villages.

"Give me some credit Tsunade. The information was already sent to the respective kages as we speak" – Stated Jiraya while gathering up some air and smiling with pride of his abilities, earning a sigh in dismay from Tsunade. After a while of conversing about Akatsuki, Jiraya changed subjects and asked about Naruto's jounin trials, before seeing Tsunade smiling at him.

"It's easier to just say this…he is just another human being entirely. On his doton ninjutsu test, he managed to beat Yamato by using some technique that Aoi taught him; the fuuton test, Naruto literally sent his opponent, which by the way was also an Anbu, flying and in the kenjutsu test, he was able to draw the first blood on our best sword user. Tell me when you'd expect the old Naruto to become what he is today?" – Asked Tsunade while grinning at her old teammate. Jiraya, for his part, smiled as well upon hearing Naruto's abilities and how much his abilities excelled under Iwa's Diamond Fang and Kakashi's teachings. However, Jiraya was not one to wallow because of what happened in the past and moved on considering that Naruto was alright, even if he didn't contribute at all to the blond's growth.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

A couple of hours passed and so far no sign of the enemy. Although no one knew exactly when they would show up, the team did expect the enemy to arrive earlier. Ino, as usual, was already bitching her discomfort to Shikamaru who in turn, muttered troublesome and turned to Naruto and Kaito who were solely focused on looking forward in full concentration in case of a sudden arrival. "Satoshi is an asshole, but he is a ninja, so it would be safe to assume he wouldn't take advantage of the environment, rather than fighting me head on. I guess all we can do now is wait for them to arrive for about half an hour and then return to the house. After all, it's not us they want, but rather my weapons" – Stated Kaito, earning a nod from the team strategist Shikamaru.

Naruto, however, was focused purely on looking forward. Without consent of the team leader, he sent two clones up ahead to scout the area in order to see where the enemy would appear. It was when Kaito voiced his thoughts that the sudden memory of the shadow clone dispelled returned back to the real one. "Shikamaru, they are coming." – Warned Naruto, earning looks in wonder from Shikamaru and Kaito who in turn wondered how the blond knew about this. When Shikamaru asked, though, Naruto explained that his kage bunshins scouted the area and dispelled in order to transfer the information to him, earning a nod from Shikamaru who dismissed the lack of said order, not only because of being irrelevant, but really troublesome as well.

"Ok, then, we'll stick with the plan for now. Naruto, how many are them?" – Asked Shikamaru to which Naruto responded the number ten counting with a much stronger foe that resembled Satoshi's description.

It wasn't long until the group saw the enemies marching calmly towards the house's direction, before stopping dead cold by Satoshi's orders. The man's appearance wasn't as impressive as Kaito was, but the ninja team knew that appearances are misleading, especially when it came to shinobi. They could see a large sword strapped on the man's back and figured that he would have a kenjutsu fight against Kaito.

Satoshi for his part eyed the opposition and smiled before looking at Kaito. "It seems you called for reinforcements as well Kaito, I'm impressed…I didn't think your ego allowed you to call for help" – Said Satoshi, before seeing Kaito laughing at the man's futile attempts of taunting him. "Humph, I don't need help dealing with you Satoshi, but seeing as you brought friends with you as well, it does grant me right to do the same thing. After all, it's only logical that you're scared to face me head on, that you had to run for help" – Said Kaito.

The Konoha team, while hearing the jabbing comments between each other, began to analyze the remnant opposition. Naruto could very well rank them as chunnins at best; however they outnumbered him, so he considered not underestimating this fact. He knew he wouldn't be counting with Shikamaru on this one, simply because the man's part of the plan was mainly for backup and house protection. He didn't expect, though, for Satoshi to settle his gaze at him as he spoke. "Ah Kaito, I see you managed to gather yet another kenjutsu specialist to aid you and here I thought you'd get to fight me" – Said Satoshi, as he eyed Naruto's sword, before looking at Kaito who in turn, looked at Naruto for a while, before nodding back to his enemy.

"Although he is quite good, this fight is between you and me, he will deal with your little friends in the meantime, though, if you don't mind" – Said Kaito, as he pulled out his katana and positioned himself in order to attack. Satoshi snorted at the man from thinking one could do much against nine chunnins and also picked his sword, before falling into a battle position. Kaito and Satoshi were eyeing each other while Kaito opened his mouth to whisper to Naruto. "Naruto, get ready because as soon as I attack him, you'll use your jutsu on his goons and keep them away from me" – Said Kaito, earning a nod from Naruto, who in turn, looked at the Kumo missing-nins with a smirk.

When Naruto heard Kaito flex his muscles, Naruto began the hand seals in astonishing speeds, before whispering the name of the technique** Fuuton Daitoppa **(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu) just as Kaito used his muscles to propel him forward the surprised enemy. The other chunnins saw only the hand seals before a massive gust of wind sent them all flying. Immediately, flipping the hand seal, Naruto molded the chakra differently in order to use the **Fuuton Kaze no Yaiba **(Wind Release: Wind Sword Jutsu) multiple times. Some of the chunnins were hit dead on and were sent to the ground with a big chunk of flesh missing from the chest area, thus bleeding profusely. Only five of the chunnins were experienced enough to recognize Naruto's technique and spin their bodies in order to dodge the slicing air technique.

The ones that survived landed on the ground eyed Naruto carefully. They were nine just a few seconds ago and now the blond already managed to incapacitate four of them. Satoshi was battling against Kaito in straight kenjutsu, while he saw the blond's proficient skills in fuuton ninjutsu, which meant that his team would clearly have difficulties dealing with him. No matter, though, even though he managed to kill off four of them, five is still a large number against one. "Come on Kaito, you have to do better than that if you want to take care of me" – Said Satoshi as he defended from a high up attack from Kaito.

Back to Naruto, he reverts to just eyeing the rest of his opponents. The first four was taken easily because they didn't know his abilities. Now, they would bring the big guns against Naruto. The blond's wonderings were proved right as instantly all five of them began running around him while making hand seals at the same time, before screaming in unison, **Raiton Baisuu Rakurai **(Lightning Release: Multiple Thunderbolt Jutsu). Because of the spinning move, the thunderbolts linked with each other, forming a unique attack in five directions, thus surrounding Naruto. Shikamaru screamed for Naruto to get out of there as well as Ino, before the attack hit dead on, nearly making Shikamaru's eyes widen in recognition of Naruto's loss as while as the group's power.

However, when the smoke cleared, Shikamaru lifted his head only to see that Naruto was standing there focusing on the ram seal, unscathed. Upon looking it further, Shikamaru realized the blond was surrounded by what appeared to be wind surrounding him. "A little more faith in me, Shikamaru; you didn't think I would focus only on offensive techniques, now wouldn't you?" – Asked Naruto, before turning to where the Nara heir was looking at him, before seeing Shikamaru sigh in extreme relief and smile at him to which Naruto returned.

After dispelling the wind dome technique around him, Naruto made more hand signs this time for an earth jutsu, before slapping his hands on the ground for **Doton Kyoumou Jishin **(Earth Release: Fierce Hurricane Jutsu). Suddenly, the ground began to shake considerably, thus obliging everyone to focus chakra on to their feet so as to avoid losing their footing. However, there were the ones who were surprised by seeing the blond using doton to realize what they needed to do. Naruto smiled and taking off his sword, he used his wind dash technique in order to propel himself towards the two surprised chunnins, before finishing their lives with a quick and killer attack taught by Aoi straight through their hearts. Turning around, Naruto was surprised when he saw three swords almost chopping his head off, before he rolled on the ground and established a distance between them. With the sword on his hands, Naruto couldn't do hand signs, so that meant jutsus were out of the picture. Now, he would get to fight against three chunnins in close combat.

The chunnins didn't wait for him to reflect on a strategy and attacked him once more. Focusing on their movements, Naruto positioned his sword in front of his face, waiting for the first blow, which came from his left to which he defended, before using fuuton chakra to propel a spin, thus avoiding an vertical attack the second was doing, before attempting to attack the same one. The third, though, defended his comrade by placing his sword in front of Naruto's. The blond didn't have much to think about as the first one's sword was beginning to reach closer, making him no room but to dodge, evade and block.

The blond had to consider their level of teamwork as the battle progressed. While one attacked the other would defend while the third remained as a backup and so on. When Naruto dodged the first one, he would attack the second only for the third to come and stop him from doing so. He needed an edge against the three of them and he needed right now. However, he couldn't think of any as the chunnins didn't give him much time to think. Suddenly, though, he saw their movement halted and smirked when he looked down to see a shadow was looming over the chunnin's shadow, thus stopping them. "I appreciate the help Shikamaru, focusing on these three at the same time is tough as hell, my eyes were already hurting from it. I can't hope to fight three swords with only one…._What that's it!!!" – _Thought Naruto as he grabbed a kunai from his holster and positioned his new weapon in ways of completing with his sword.

Kaito saw this and smiled at the boy from figuring it out. Satoshi, however, wasn't too thrilled as, indeed; his team were having trouble with the blond. Back to Naruto, he focused fuuton chakra on the kunai and appreciated Shikamaru for the help, before requesting for the shadow technique to be dispelled. Shikamaru, of course, objected but acknowledged in the end. Once the chunnins were released, they saw Naruto and charged against him once again with the same battle strategy. However, because of Naruto's kunai, he was having more ways of attacking and more ways of defending, which meant that he would find an opening real soon.

Naruto, for his part, remembered fighting against Gamabuki and his swords and tried to match the attack patterns. It did work, after all, as the first and second chunnins were, occasionally, suffering from scratches made by his sword. This time, Naruto would use his fuuton powered kunai to block the first's attack, before using the sword at the second, expecting for the third to block so that he could attack the first one unguarded. As he thought, Naruto waved his fuuton kunai near the first's chest, thus taking out a big chunk of flesh from him. The rest of the two stopped the attack and jumped back before guarding their swords once again. Immediately, both of them began to mold an immense amount of chakra, before whispering in unison **Raiton Seitekihou **(Lightning Release: Static Cannon Jutsu).

Immediately, both the chunnins started gathering static energy around their hands, before shooting compressed spheres composed of said energy straight at Naruto. The blond saw the attacks, though, but couldn't use the wind dome defense fast enough. Focusing some chakra to his feet, Naruto evaded the elemental assault, before landing on the ground and using the wind dash technique as he charged against the chunnin ninjas while dodging the spheres. He didn't think too much about the well-coordinated ninjutsu these chunnins were doing and continued dodging the incoming projectiles. There were only two left for him to take care of the enemy. He could approach them further and eliminate them with pure kenjutsu, but he didn't want them to try another ninjutsu combination, so he would resort to ninjutsu as well.

The problem was that while the sword and kunai were on his hands, no hand seals could be done, so Naruto couldn't do any jutsus. He remembered; however, when he was fighting Gamabuki and the jutsu he used when he crossed the swords and expelled fuuton chakra throw the blade, thus forming an X pattern. After dodging the last spheres, Naruto crossed his katana and kunai and began focusing on fuuton chakra through the weapons. In seconds, both weapons were surrounded with a blue colored energy. Now the problem was on how to expel the thin layered chakra towards the enemy.

While thinking of the solution, the enemy was, in the mean time, attacking him with the static spheres, although to no avail as Naruto kept dodging them. Suddenly, Naruto tried to apply the concept of the Kaze no Yaiba technique and tried applying to the weapons in front of him. What happened next really did surprise him as two thin layered wind chakra attacked left the weapons and charged the chunnin, before hitting them right on the chest. _Well, I guess I did it!!_ – thought Naruto as He saw the bodies of the missing-nins fall on the ground unconscious.

After seeing the rest of the two unconscious, Naruto stopped for a while to gather his breath a little bit. For all the stamina and chakra he had, extreme focus took out a lot out of him. Although Naruto did dodge the attacks, his outfit suffered worse fate as only his vest was intact while the rest of it was ragged and pretty much destroyed. Upon turning to his teammates, he gave thumbs up to Shikamaru who nodded with a smile before seeing that Ino was watching him with a bit of drooling. The Yamanaka heir never saw Naruto's muscles like that before and she couldn't help but stare with second thoughts on her head.

Back to Naruto, he sighed in dismay upon believing that Ino wasn't look at him, but rather sizing him up from head to toe. Turning to see the other fight, he found it surprising that Kaito was winning the battle against Satoshi. When it came to kenjutsu, Kaito was unbeatable. However, just as Satoshi fell on the floor, he began making hand seals fast, telling Naruto that the man would resort to ninjutsu to beat a samurai. He had to do something to save Kaito.

To Kaito's part, his battle with Satoshi, although fierce, it didn't have the same fire as the one had against Naruto, so the enemy was easy to beat. However, as he saw Satoshi smile and begin making those famous hand signals. The man stiffened instantly in fear of suffering an, coward, but deadly attack from Satoshi, before hearing the man screaming **Raiton Gian **(Lightning Release: False Darkness Jutsu). Kaito braced himself for the incoming pain as he closed his eyes to brace the electricity. However, instead of bearing the pain, all Kaito could feel was strange lack of air to breathe. When he opened his eyes, he saw Satoshi snarling at the blond next to him who was holding one of that hand signals while sighing in relief from not being too late to protect the client.

Kaito appreciate the help and, after the wind dome was expelled, gave Satoshi the killing blow to his neck. After cleaning the blood left on his sword, Kaito went towards Naruto's location and offered a hand to the blond. "They got you pretty bad, huh Naruto" – Said Kaito as he helped Naruto to get up from the ground, before escorting the blond back to the house for some rest.

* * *

**===The next day===**

When Naruto opened his eyes, he knew he wasn't outside the house as he saw the house's ceiling. Immediately he got up only to hear Shikamaru's voice calling up to him. "About time you woke up Naruto. I was beginning to think you'd never wake up, how are you feeling?" – Asked Shikamaru, smiling while seeing Naruto feeling his body aching near the ribs. "Ino, strapped you up while you're asleep" – Explained Shikamaru, earning a nod from Naruto who asked about the mission's progression. "I've already informed the hokage of the mission being a success and Kaito informed Kumo to send someone here to collect the bounties of the ten missing-nins. Congratulations, Naruto. You're rich now. The nine you beat gathered quite a lot of bounty and Kumo have already paid the total amount to Tsunade who in turn will give it to you, plus the mission salary" – Explained Shikamaru, before seeing Naruto smile and get up from his bed.

Wearing only his pants and a white T-shirt, Naruto walked to the mansion searching for Kaito, until he found the man drinking sake in the living room. "Hey there Naruto, I'm glad you woke up, I have great news to tell you" – Said Kaito, before Naruto telling him he already know about the bounty money on the missing-nins, but Kaito smiled and said that he wasn't talking about that. "The money is good and all, but that's not what I want to tell you about. Your ninjato is ready, here" – Stated Kaito, before throwing the sword to Naruto. The blond was ecstatic to hold this next sword and remembered how well he fought with his kunai as a complement to his katana.

"I observed your fighting skills yesterday Naruto and I know you'd be perfect for the kenjutsu style described by this scroll" – Said Kaito, earning a nod and a smile from Naruto who in turn, opened the scroll and read the title and name of the kenjutsu style.

**Tsuinken-ryuu** (Twin Sword Style)


	19. More trouble than it's worth

**

* * *

****Chapter 19 – More trouble than it's worth **

**Beta: Dreetje**

* * *

After seeing some Kumo shinobi collect the bodies of their village's traitor, the Konoha team was saying their goodbyes to the client. Kaito was very thankful for the help he received and asked to relay a message to the Hokage about the fine display of skills the three possessed. The group appreciated the gesture, even though one of them thought she didn't do much. Ino, sometimes, would feel this way when her help wasn't needed in the end. Naruto, of course, healed himself almost instantly, only needing to be patched up and for that, anyone could do it.

Immediately jumping towards the next treetop, the group set out towards Konoha in hopes of reaching home as fast as possible. While they were going, Naruto unsheathed his ninjato and looked down to examine it for a while. Being quite used to swords, nowadays, Naruto couldn't help but worship said weapon as being most effective in battle; also its worship only increased now that he possessed a sword forged by Kaito, a famous sword forger practically known throughout the entire elemental nations. Looking at the steel, Naruto noticed some similarities with his katana, which meant he could channel Fuuton chakra through it and strengthen the metal.

Shikamaru was studying Naruto as he was examining the ninjato and it surprised the Nara heir to see Naruto so focused on admiring a piece of metal. Shikamaru was no stranger to seeing ninja worshipping their weapons. It was Asuma who taught him that a weapon is better used as an extension of the ninja's body and that a ninja must have great care for the weapon of choice. Shikamaru remembered how the bearded shinobi treated his trench knifes, but never thought much about it much (I guess I don't need to explain, right?). "Oi Naruto, tell me something, why did you choose to use a katana as weapon?" – Asked Shikamaru demonstrating genuine interest in Naruto's weapon of choice.

The blond stopped staring at the blade and turned to the Nara heir only to see he was looking at him. Actually, come to think about it, it was never his intention to become a sword user at all. It was his sensei Kakashi that considered the idea and he went along with it. That's how he met Rikimaru, his next door neighbor and Kenjutsu trainer.

"To tell the truth Shika, I never intended to use swords at all. It only happened because Kakashi-sensei thought it would be good for me to learn Kenjutsu for the third phase of the Chuunin exams. I trained for a while and managed to improve my skills greatly. At some point, my interests in swords increased and after my training with Aoi-sensei, I, now, consider myself a Kenjutsu specialist even if I'm more inclined to being a Ninjutsu specialist, because of my chakra capacity." – Explained Naruto, earning a nod from Shikamaru.

"If you ask me, I think focusing on two things at once is way too troublesome. In the end, you'll choose one area over the other and unbalance the whole thing. I'm not saying this to put you down; it's just that it happens way too often and people tend to be killed because of it." – Stated Shikamaru before seeing Naruto smile.

"Don't worry; I'm used to multiple tasking, but thanks for the concern, though" – Said Naruto to which Shikamaru smiled and nodded, realizing that he was speaking to a man that used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu ever since he graduated from the academy.

* * *

**===Near Konoha===**

Hiding inside a cave were Kabuto and a couple of cursed seal followers. A few minutes ago, a Konoha team patrol passed by the area. Normally, Kabuto wouldn't mind taking them all and kill them, but this time even the slightest sign of suspicion would be enough to call attention against them and in turn, Sasuke's security would increase. Kabuto's plan was simple enough in theory. Get inside Konoha's walls without alerting anyone, take out the Anbu that are responsible for Sasuke's prison and then escort the Uchiha out. Even if he already did this before at the Chuunin exams, now he wasn't alone so a lot of things could go wrong cause now he has to take other's behavior and ninja abilities into account.

Sticking his head out once again, Kabuto smiled as he couldn't sense any ninja from Konoha, so his path was free to go. It would take one more day to reach the village's walls, but because of the unguarded direction, the Sasuke retrieval mission wouldn't encounter any more ninjas before managing to enter the village. Once inside the cave, he spotted what appeared to be just four shadows since the light wasn't able to reach inside the cave and gave them the signal for them to move towards their target. Soon, they would be able to retrieve the Uchiha and Lord Orochimaru will once again be satisfied with the events that turned up.

* * *

**===next day in Konoha===**

In front of Tsunade, were Shikamaru, Naruto and Ino reporting on their mission towards Lightning Country. She didn't take into account that the client himself would aid in the fighting, but in the end everything went accordingly to plan. She looked at Naruto and remembered his bounty regarding the disposal of nine Kumo missing-nins. She looked at the numbers of the bounties added together and silently wondered if the brat would consider lending her some money to lay out the creditors that still sent her letters from time to time.

After Shikamaru, the team leader, reported the mission success, Tsunade addressed all of them properly, giving her normal congratulations speech and giving each of them a note to withdraw their mission paychecks. Naruto, of course, received a note because he managed to kill those Kumo's missing-nins. After the group was dismissed, Shikamaru and Ino bid the Hokage farewell and left the office, but Naruto remained in the office, since he asked to talk to the Hokage about his girlfriend.

"Hokage-sama, do you happen to know if Anko-chan had returned from her mission? I was hoping to look for her, but first I wanted to see if she arrived" – Asked Naruto to which Tsunade nodded, before saying that the snake mistress did return from her mission, saying that he could find her at the hospital, since she was asked to deal with a case of severe poison.

Naruto acknowledged the information and bid the Hokage farewell, before closing the door. Tsunade, however, couldn't help but notice a new sword strapped on Naruto's back in the same position as his katana, in parallel with one another. _Hum, I guess he acquired a new sword from the client, wait…the man's swords are ridiculously over-priced, how could you afford it Naruto? I have to talk to him about lending me some money; the Hokage's salary doesn't cover both my debts and my precious sake bottles. _

Back to Naruto, he already left the Hokage's tower towards the Hospital where he would meet his girlfriend. Because of Anko's mission, she ended up missing his Jounin exams which happened a little while ago, so it was only fair to say that Naruto missed his lover. It didn't take long for the blond to reach the premises of Konoha's Hospital and get right in. Once in front of the receptionist's desk, Naruto asked the woman who was behind the counter if she could be so kind to tell him the room where Mitarashi Anko was at the moment. Naruto felt slightly uncomfortable soon afterwards when he saw that the lady was seizing him from head to toe. Also the blush on her face was a dead giveaway. In the end, though, she managed to give the information to Naruto and the blond thanked her before heading for the designated room.

Naruto had to admit that he never found his way around the hospital. There were only a hand full of situations where it was necessary for him to be cured by a doctor and most of them happened a long time ago. Nowadays, when Naruto suffered some minor injuries they were instantly healed by the fox inside of him. A couple of minutes later, he knocked on the door where Anko was supposed to be, before entering only to find one nurse writing something on a board and a shinobi resting in the bed.

"Excuse me, but do you know where can I find Mitarashi Anko? The receptionist said she was in this room helping with some severe poison extraction?" – Asked Naruto, earning the nurse's attention who nodded.

"Anko-san just finished the procedure and left. I believe she's probably having some lunch since her stomach was rather persuasive." – Said the attending nurse to which Naruto acknowledged the information and thanked the woman before closing the door.

Thinking for a while, Anko could either be at the Dango place or at her favorite Training Ground, the Forest of Death. Hell, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if Anko picked up some Dango sticks and took it to the Area 44 to eat there. The Dango Place wasn't far away from the hospital, so Naruto could pass by and see if she was there or not.

After arriving, the owner/waiter/cook told him that she left a couple minutes ago with her order of sticks to eat away. Naruto sighed knowing that she was indeed eating Dango sticks inside the Forest of Death. It didn't take long, before Naruto reached the gate with the sign of caution while entering. What the sign didn't say, though, was that whoever entered this place, would get to meet the infamous snake Mistress Mitarashi Anko and for some, she was scarier than whatever creatures that were inside this god forsaken forest. Once jumping over the gate and entering the forest, he began to focus his senses in hopes of getting Anko's chakra signature. This place happened to be selected for the Chuunin exams simply because inside, they are several chakra presences that happen to belong to the creatures that lurks within these woods, so the ninja, often, is caught unguarded because he thought it was an animal and didn't realize that maybe there was a ninja wanting to kill him or her.

However, while Anko's presence was stronger, the animals had the same chakra capacity on the level of an academy student, so it was easy to not take them into consideration. Following Anko's chakra signature, he was already picturing what he would say to her. For one, they were still due to celebrate his promotion to Jounin, so he could start there. _Huh, only she would think of relaxing at a place like this. The animals here don't possess much chakra, but their killing intent resembles those of a Jounin. Anko's chakra signature ended here, so the only possibility behind this is that she knows someone is coming and went to hide, or worse…she knows I'm here and decides to play a little prank on me…not that it would work of course…but still…._

Naruto didn't have to wait much longer as he heard a couple of kunais flying towards his back and he instantly flipped his body, unsheathed his two swords and tore all the kunais apart. Immediately turning to mission mode, Naruto prepared for the worst when he saw the woman of his dreams standing on a tree in front of him while smirking at the blond. In seconds, she was right in front of him, before hugging the blond and landing a deep kiss on his lips. Naruto was slightly taken aback, but accepted the kiss as tongues become to share contact.

When the kiss ended, Naruto and Anko just looked at each other's eyes for a while, before smiling to one another.

"I missed you Naruto-kun" – Said Anko to which Naruto nodded.

"I missed you too Anko-chan, you had to leave on that mission of yours and I never had the chance to talk to you before you left. I trust it went okay, then, since you returned home?" – Asked Naruto to which Anko nodded, but inside she was in turmoil. Naruto believed her reason for leaving was because of a mission issued by the Hokage, but the truth of the matter was that she was the one who asked to go and meet the damn pervert in order to find a cure for the cursed seal. She would have to tell him and wait to hear what he would say, alright.

"Actually Naruto, my mission as you so called it wasn't an official mission. I'm sorry I left without seeing your Jounin exams, but this was something I had to do. I went on a trip to find Jiraiya-sama to find a way to take off the cursed seal" – Spoke Anko, before seeing Naruto's face frown in dismay, but he chose not to say anything and issued her to continue. "I was afraid that the cursed seal would ruin my happiness with you and I wanted to get rid of it first. I know it was the wrong thing to do and I'm sorry about doing it, but I had to do it." – Said Anko, hoping that Naruto wouldn't throw a fit at her. However, Naruto was way too cool about this whole ordeal and she feared the worse.

"Anko-chan, it's no problem…I know the cursed seal is a touchy subject for you. I just wished you've let me know about it before you left, I would have understood completely" – Said Naruto, while smiling at her, resulting in Anko relaxing her shoulders a little bit since the weight was gone. She remembered both Jiraiya and Tsunade saying that the blond wouldn't be mad at her for doing such a thing and explained that she didn't want to make him lose his focus on the Jounin exams. Of course, Naruto objected, saying that it wouldn't matter if he passed or not, as long as Anko was okay. Needless to say, Anko was overwhelmed with love inside her heart as she hugged Naruto for a while. After that, she saw the vest and decided to comment on it.

"Well my dear Naruto-kun, you did manage to be promoted to Jounin, congratulations, the vest suited you nicely" – Said Anko to which Naruto smiled and turned to explain about the test to the girl.

"Yes, I managed to pass, although my Fuuton test wasn't as good as the others. So, Anko-chan, I know you just had lunch, but I'm really starving, care to accompany me to some ramen?" – Asked Naruto.

Anko smiled and nodded right away, before both vanished via Shunshin.

* * *

**===At Ichiraku's===**

After placing Naruto's orders and seeing old man Teuchi preparing the noodles, Naruto settled to explain his mission to Anko. He told about the bounty he received from Sasuke's recovery and how he managed to acquire the ninjato on his back with said money. Anko wasn't really fascinated by swords, but being a Jounin for some time, she knew the forger of said sword and also knew of the man's fame. She asked to see the sword before Naruto nodded and took it out of the sheath. While holding it, Anko was able to feel the man's hands behind the piece of metal. The sword was well-balanced and light, thus not diminishing the ninja's speed while using it.

Once the noodles arrived, Naruto began to eat while looking at Anko, who was inspecting his ninjato.

"Seeing that I have at least a couple days off, I'm planning on training some new moves now that my Kenjutsu is different. Fighting with two swords now I have to adjust to depending on a second source of both attack and defense" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Anko who, then, returned Naruto's ninjato straight back to the sheath, before smiling at her boyfriend's never-ending drive to become stronger.

"You just returned from your mission and you're ready thinking of training again, aren't you tired?" – Asked Anko, though she knew that her boyfriend was a stamina freak, so she wasn't surprised when he just said no with his head. Naruto, though, turned to think a bit, afterwards, before looking at her.

"I was thinking about a nice long shower, though. Care to join?" – Asked Naruto with an innocent smile that happened to be followed by Anko's devious one.

"Do you even have to ask?" – Joked Anko, before they paid for the bill and left the place towards his apartment.

* * *

**===Inside Naruto's apartment===**

The water that came out of the shower was warm and it was removing the residues from fighting for so long. However, Naruto wasn't thinking about this at all. But who could blame him after all? Currently, he was locked in a passionate kiss with Anko while both were hugging each other. Even though neither of them did anything too arousing, both were already feeling their hormones kicking in, which meant that both of them wanted it and wanted it bad. Suddenly, Naruto's right hand began to caress Anko's back slowly while the other would play with her neck a little bit, thus sending the right signals for the snake mistress. At almost the same time, Naruto broke the kiss and began sucking Anko's lips while whispering words of pleasure to the woman who in turn couldn't do anything but be manipulated by the blond.

Anko found it ironic yet arousing at the same time. For as long as she could remember, she'd always be the one in control of the situation and those who tried anything against this idea ended up in the hospital from either poison or blood loss. Naruto, though, hold the upper hand and managed to switch the necessary buttons to render her completely to his will. She felt aroused because she considered Naruto to be one of the strongest Jounin in Konoha and having him enticing her to her very core was exhilarating to say the least. Using her hands, she could feel Naruto's ripped muscles which demonstrated how hard he trained to acquire them. She could also feel some deep scars that, although the fox inside of him healed the wound, it was there as a reminder of the battles he faced and returned victorious.

"Did you miss me, Anko-chan?" – Whispered Naruto, right before he continued to lick the girl's neck and use his arms in order to bring them closer together so that Anko felt Naruto's member touching her thigh.

"You have no idea how much…Naru-kun, Ah my god, please continue, I like being teased so much!" – Said Anko, earning a nod from Naruto, who this time, went for the woman's breasts, before sucking them hard, earning moaning from Anko.

Anko, in turn, recovered some level of control over her urges and searched for some leverage by instantly grabbing Naruto's penis and started to jerk it, before hearing Naruto moaning this time. Upon hearing it, she smiled once more. Naruto could have the upper hand from time to time, but being a proud kunoichi, she wouldn't fall without a fight. To gain even more advantage, her hand positioned at Naruto's tip and massaged it gently as in not hurting the sensitive part, but sending a wave of pleasure to the blond.

Naruto for his turn, smiled at the woman's actions and with his middle finger, he began massaging Anko's clit, thus ruining every bit of change Anko had of controlling the situation. It was an instant reaction as Naruto placed his middle finger inside her and she practically melted with pleasure. She looked at his face as in trying to protest, but quickly thought against it as the pressure inside her clit was beginning to arouse her even more to the point that Naruto could feel that Anko's clit was already wet from arousal. Suddenly, Naruto smiled and whispered closely to the girl's ears, words of obscenities that would receive an angry slap if spoken on a different occasion.

Anko was feeling her body temperature rise and she was sure it wasn't the heated water that was causing this. It was her hormones guiding her through this situation, practically begging for more arousal from the blond. After a while, Anko's inner walls began to convulse in ecstasy, which meant that the woman was on edge of having an orgasm right on Naruto's finger.

"Oh my god, yes Naruto…yes, keep going…oh sweet Kami…this feels wonderful…" – Mumbled Anko, not even sure If she was making much sense of what was coming out of her mouth, but she didn't care. Her legs began to tremble slightly as she looked to Naruto's penis just waiting for his turn at her. It went with an impulse as Anko kneeled on the floor and began to give Naruto a blowjob. She enjoyed the taste so much; she wanted him to cum straight on her mouth. However, her body was asking for other thing, instead of Naruto's load inside her mouth. She was carving for flesh inside of her and she wanted it right now.

"Naruto-kun, stick it inside me, I want to really feel you inside me this time!" – Said Anko, sounding more like a desperate order, but Naruto complied nonetheless as he positioned Anko facing the wall, before asking her to bend over a little bit. Being experienced, Anko rapidly knew she would be taken from behind. That was fine by her, though, as Naruto's dick would ravage her inner walls no matter what the position would be. And just like she pictured in her mind, Naruto placed his cock inside her and began the movement back and forth. As he moved, Anko's moaning was increasing with each thrust inside. She loved the feeling of Naruto's cock ravaging her inside and she craved for a second orgasm as well.

Naruto, at some point, grabbed her hair and pulled slightly to indicate that he wanted her to get off the wall and come closer to him. Anko instantly complied and now they were glued to each other while Naruto continued the pace, but now Naruto could reach her neck and breasts, so he used his hands in order to caress them.

Finally Anko began to lose it down there, causing her to smile seeing that she would have her second orgasm any time now. Naruto, for his turn, wasn't fairing much better as his cock was also convulsing slightly. He could wait a little longer until he had to pull out, but the feeling that Anko was in the same situation made him continue the back and forward movement.

"Yes Naruto-kun, make me cum once more….oh yes, yes, oh my god" – Shouted Anko as her legs began to tremble from excess of hormones. After hearing his lover scream her orgasm, Naruto smiled and took his cock out before saying that he was about to reach his ending soon to which Anko nodded and began sucking his cock. After a couple of minutes, Naruto was cumming right inside her mouth.

After the couple left the shower, both looked outside Naruto's window only to see the sun already beginning its descent. Both of them lost track of time because of the art of making love and they had the decency to smile upon realizing it.

"Well Anko-chan, it seems it's almost time for us to have some dinner, where do you want to go?" – Asked Naruto, before seeing Anko placing her finger in contact with her chin for a while as in thinking.

"That sushi bar we went a couple weeks ago seems nice, what do you think?" – Asked Anko to which Naruto complied and dressed up.

* * *

**===throughout the village===**

In little time, both Naruto and Anko were already outside heading towards the sushi place near the Hokage's tower. By this time, the sun was already settled and it was night time in Konoha. Lights began to appear throughout the city and the night life began. Children would already be counting the time to go to sleep and those of age would fill the bars and restaurants in town. Both Naruto and Anko choose not to wear their shinobi clothes, but both of them had some weapon hidden somewhere. Naruto's ninjato was hidden on his waist, almost imperceptible and Anko had hidden a kunai holster inside her dark blue kimono. For the naked eye, they were a simple couple from Konoha, but for those with shinobi training, they were better suited as a couple of assassins, just waiting for someone to attack one of them.

After entering the place, Naruto and Anko greeted the owner slash sushi man preparing the evening's dishes for the future customers. The man called Juno Sakamoto greeted the couple and picked a couple of menus before directing them to any of the empty tables which was soon to end, since the place would be packed in minutes.

"Greetings there young ones, what are we having today?" – Asked Juno, before seeing Naruto and Anko take a look at the menu for a while.

"We'll share the special combo nº. 2 and a bottle of sake, thank you Juno" – Said Naruto, earning a happily nod from the owner who wrote the order and went back to where he was before picking one sake bottle and two saucers to serve the couple. Just as he served the bottle, his three assistants walked inside and greeted the boss, before putting their uniforms and stay in their respective positions, waiting for either the couple to place an order or new people to arrive.

Just like every night, in minutes, the place was packed with people eating sushi. Naruto and Anko were happily talking and joking about their prank on Ino involving shadow clones and the Yamanaka's mind transfer jutsu when a group of shinobi entered the place. But not just any group, team Asuma and team Kurenai along with their Jounin sensei all entered the place and immediately spotted Naruto and Anko there having what appeared to be a very amusing conversation if Anko trying to hold her stomach from laughing so much was any indication. Asuma and Kurenai smiled upon seeing the two and immediately went to greet them. The Chuunin and Shikamaru, though, settled for a different table. They were going to call Naruto to sit on their table, but since he was with his girlfriend, they just settled down.

Aside from Shikamaru and Shino, everyone was looking at Naruto in a different light. He was seating at the Jounin table and he was talking to Anko, Kurenai and Asuma like he was from their generation, rather than the rookie 9's. In less than a year, Naruto managed to surpass all of his peers as well as become a full fledged Jounin, instead of just Tokubetsu Jounin. Shikamaru knew what was this all about, but didn't think much about it, firstly because it's was way too troublesome and secondly because the blond managed to change his ways and become an excellent shinobi. Shino came to the same conclusion about the blond and believed everyone's thoughts to be misguided. Of course, the reason behind the group's concern was that the Uzumaki Naruto they once knew didn't exist anymore. Also, because Naruto managed to become a Jounin, he now rolls with other Jounin just like Neji did when he became a Jounin.

Oblivious to the rest of the rookie 9's thoughts about him, Naruto talked about many things with Anko as well as Asuma and Kurenai, varying from his Jounin exams and his mission towards Lightning Country to hearing Kurenai complaining that Asuma wouldn't stop smoking even if his life depended on it. At this last commentary, Asuma retorted by saying that the cigarette wouldn't the be the one killing him to which Naruto couldn't help but silently agree since the Sandaime Hokage smoked those pipes of his and ended being killed when fighting Orochimaru. But Kurenai wouldn't hear it, especially because that was the only reply the bearded shinobi ever made, considering his smoking habit. Kurenai sighed in dismay, afterwards and decided to focus some energy on getting to know a little more about Naruto, after all it wasn't often that Anko managed to find someone to be with, especially not someone who would either run away from her or end up in the hospital.

She knew some aspects of Naruto's life. The Kyuubi being inside of him and growing up surviving the hatred and grief of those who lost their loved ones because of the fox, were some of the aspects she knew of Naruto's life. However, she was still due to find something that positive about Naruto's life.

"So Naruto, I heard that you acquired a new sword from your mission towards Lightning Country? I just couldn't picture you being a Kenjutsu specialist" – Asked Kurenai, earning a snicker from Naruto who remembered Shikamaru asking the same question.

"I know it sounds odd, but I never truly intended to be a Kenjutsu specialist. In fact, I didn't even consider sword using to be useful, at first" – Explained Naruto, earning the attention of the rest of the table as he continued. "When I trained with Kakashi-sensei for the Chuunin exams, he taught me the art of Doton Ninjutsu and called for help from an old friend of his from the Anbu black ops to teach me the art of Kenjutsu. I accepted to learn the art and a while later; here am I with fighting with not one but two swords at the same time. In order to be a Kenjutsu specialist, one must use the weapon as if were an extension of your body, but using two weapons you'd have to extend that concept as well. I intend to overcome this obstacle tomorrow when training. I, also, received a scroll containing a style that happens to use two swords so tonight, I'll get to read it and memorize the stances. Answering your question Kurenai-san, I look at my swords and wonder why I didn't consider trying this art before" – Said Naruto, earning a smile from Asuma whose situation is a bit similar because of his trench knifes.

After that, the group was ready to pay the bill and each sent their respective goodbyes to each other with the promise of meeting each other once again in the future. Naruto and Anko went to the girl's apartment to sleep together, since they weren't able to, before.

* * *

**===the next day===**

After waking up, Naruto went to an empty training ground that happened to be located near Anko's house. Anko said that she was supposed to meet up with Ibiki to aid him in some interrogations, so Naruto was free to do his share of training, both in Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu. First, though, it was Kenjutsu since he just got the new sword and never used before. Last night, he got to read the scroll with the **Tsuinken-ryuu** and managed to memorize quite a lot of positions. The truth was that the style was a complementary one which consisted of adding a second sword to the already existing one sword style. According to the scroll, there were two pillars of the style, offensive and defense. The offense side involved adding a second attack just after a strong first attack from the katana. This attack could vary from all directions depending on which side is open to use.

Also, the cross attack sequence when the ninja starts with the sword wide, before slashing them at the same time, making a cross attack at the enemy, followed by returning back to the same posture by slicing the swords towards different directions. The defensive postures weren't hard as the only the style prefers offensive rather than defensive. Naruto learned some defensive movements that can be linked with an offensive, by using two swords. The Katana would hold the strong attacks while the ninjato attacks and the ninjato hold the fast attacks while the katana strikes. The style was easy yet efficient, Naruto wondered as he went through the katas just like instructed by the scroll; so one by one of Naruto's imaginary opponents would render themselves useless to the two sword's abilities.

After an hour of fluid movements, Naruto realized that he wouldn't go any further on his training without at least having a sparring partner with him. Smiling, the blond cut his thumb and did the hand seals for the **Kuchiyose no Jutsu **(Summoning Technique). After slamming his hands on the ground, the usual black ink chains appeared, followed by a white fog. In seconds, Gamabuki stood there with all his might, while smiling broadly. The toad knew about how much of a challenge it is to battle against Naruto and he was looking forward to it this whole time.

"**Glad you summoned me Naruto; I was actually wondering if you'd chickened out of facing me in battle?"** – Asked the toad to which Naruto smiled and replied in kind.

"Don't flatter yourself Gamabuki, the last time we fought it was a tie, but now I don't want to settle the differences here. There will be other opportunities I'm sure. What I wanted, though, was for you to help me gather experience in fighting with two swords at the same time" – Said Naruto, earning a nod followed by a whistle from the toad that spotted the new sword on Naruto's back.

"**Definitely the work of a master this sword is. Sure, then, I'll help you. Fighting with two swords can be very confusing at times, but you'll get the hand in no time"** – Explained Gamabuki as he took his twin swords off the respective holsters and fell into a position looking forward to strike Naruto.

Naruto smiled upon seeing this and got into the Tsuinken-ryuu style which consisted of spreading his legs a little bit and positioning the katana up near the shoulder height and the ninjato below the waist. This way, the ninjato could cover the entire body while the katana will use the force gathered from above and increase the power of the strike. After falling on the respective stances, though, both opponents turned to face each other for a while. The first attack was always critical and one failed move would end in defeat. Usually, Naruto would begin with Hayate's attack, since the illusion allows the attacker to strike without needing to worry about leaving his guard open, but Naruto didn't know if the technique would work now that he has two swords. The toad, though, settled to attack first, hence how he channeled chakra for extra speed and charged against Naruto with one of his swords, while waiting for Naruto to use both his to defend.

However, since the attack was coming near Naruto's katana, the blond just positioned the big sword to stop the attack, before using his ninjato to attack Gamabuki with a horizontal attack. The toad used his other sword to block, before raising both his swords up to the air before coming down with a sort of parallel attack. Naruto, seeing this, raised both his swords and formed an X shape defense. However that proved not to be the best movement as he left his entire body exposed, resulting in a sharp kick to the chest, sending the blond flying.

Using the momentum, Naruto flipped his body to fall safely on the ground and immediately charged Gamabuki with an attack sequence using both his swords. The toad was caught by surprise and was trying to cope with the fast and strong series of slices by Naruto. The blond managed to see, for a second, an opening and landed a reverse kick right to Gamabuki's ribs, before seeing the toad double in pain. Naruto smiled and just positioned his two swords on both sides of the toad's neck, before asking if the toad would yield.

Gamabuki didn't have a choice so he just nodded with his head and smiled at the blond who was becoming worthy of being a rival to grow in skills. **"Nicely done Naruto; I'll take my leave now, but I'll train harder to beat you in the future. Call me once again if you need something, okay"** – Said the toad to which Naruto smiled, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

After Gamabuki vanished, Naruto heard the sound of clapping approaching and turned to see the newcomer, who was no other than Aoi with the Jounin vest. "I was watching the fight there Naruto. I didn't know you acquired another sword, it really does suit you. You managed to incorporate it nicely to your style" – Said Aoi to which Naruto appreciated the gesture and asked how it felt to be a Jounin-sensei, before seeing the old man smile, but in an affectionate way.

"I didn't believe I could teach young Genin at first, but these kids grow up on you. They are learning very fast and I already thinking of giving them their first C ranked mission. Their training is coming along nicely, but I'm still bound to this village's rules about what I can teach these kids. I already wanted to give them elemental manipulation, but the Hokage forbid it, saying that Konoha isn't like Iwa. Apart from that, though, their abilities are fine as it is. What about you and the iron manipulation? Make any improvements?" – Asked Aoi, before seeing Naruto nodding in negative with his head.

"I'll admit that I didn't focus much on it, but that's because of some missions here and there. I've been giving some thought about a second technique to do using iron manipulation" – Said Naruto to which Aoi became interested and asked.

"It would the **Doton Doryuudan **(Earth Release: Mud Dragon Projectile Jutsu), but instead called **Doton Tetsuryuudan **(Earth Release: Iron Dragon Projectile Jutsu). Instead of throwing mud balls at the opponent, it would be made of iron. Of course, that's just pure theory. The thought of placing the dragon to throw iron balls at the opponent is new, so a lot of variables will be put into consideration" – Explained Naruto before looking at Aoi who was crossing his arms while displaying an amused look on his face for reasons that weren't of Naruto's knowledge.

"To you maybe a theory, since you don't know much about this form of manipulation, but to me is a known technique that I happened to create not so long ago. What amazes me, though, is your creativity towards Jutsus. As to the technique, it's not as hard as you are putting it out to be. The secret is to mix the hand seals needed for two earth techniques being one the Doryuudan and another one called **Doton Doryuu Dango **(Earth Release: Mausoleum Earth Dumpling Jutsu). This last technique happens to be used to shape the earth into perfect spheres and throw at the enemy. Also, you have to mold iron type chakra together with the new sequence of hand seals and the iron dragon will show up and throw iron balls against the enemy, you think that is tough?" – Asked Aoi.

"The way you say it makes it sound like it's easy" – Said Naruto as he was wondering about Aoi's idea, much to the amusement of the old Jounin.

"Well, that's because it's easy. I'll bet you anything that you'll complete the technique in three tries, considering that you do exactly what I tell you to" – Guessed Aoi, earning a snicker from Naruto who decided to go with the idea and begin to memorize the new set of hand seals.

After getting the sequence, Naruto made some clearance as he began the hand seals while at the same time molding chakra. When he was about to finish the technique, though, Aoi shouted for him to slam both his hands on the floor, since all iron techniques requires a direct contact with the soil. Naruto cursed the man for interrupting him in the middle of the technique and started all over again with the first hand seal. By the time he finished the technique, that peculiar sound that's emitted right after the last hand seal could be heard before Naruto slammed his hands on the ground with force. To his amazement, right in front of him, the ground began to grow until it took the shape of an iron dragon's head. The only problem was that Naruto released his hands from the ground, thus stopping contact and in consequence, disrupting the technique.

Aoi, though, seemed to have foreseen this error as he smiled and didn't say anything other than 'this was the first try'. It occurred with the first iron technique and now it happened again, Naruto would always forget that he can't take his hands off the ground unless the attack is complete. Naruto, for his part, appreciated that the man didn't say anything and tried one more time. He damn well know the need of maintaining a constant flow of chakra through soil contact, even though he felt the unconscious desire of tacking the hands off the ground.

Going through the seals one more time, Naruto slammed his hands on the ground before seeing the iron dragon in front of him suddenly opening his mouth and expelling iron balls. Aoi saw this and rested his hands on Naruto's shoulders.

"It was a shame we didn't bet anything specific, Naruto. Well, I was right in the end, you did complete the technique with two tries" – Concluded Aoi earning a nod from Naruto who laid there looking at his new technique.

"I guess I'll come to you when I have another theory to try on" – Said Naruto, earning a snicker from Aoi who, then, told Naruto that he was supposed to meet his team to a new mission.

* * *

**===At night===**

It was close to midnight in Konoha and the only ones awake were ninjas on patrol and those who enjoy the night life. The village itself was dark, as most lights were off, so it wasn't much trouble for Kabuto and his goons to infiltrate the village. The sound shinobi didn't encounter resistance on their travels, since Kabuto knew his way around the outskirts of the village and the patrol patterns. Right now, the group was a couple miles away from their target, which was the Anbu prison facility. Waiting a little bit to understand the patrols inside the village, the group, then proceeded with utmost caution in order to reach the Anbu HQ.

Within minutes, Kabuto and co. reached the building and saw four Anbu members stationed outside of the building, doing guard duty. Kabuto smirked upon hearing their complaining about having to do this on their fist assignments and concluded that they were junior members being tested. It would be easier to sneak inside than he thought. Kabuto, then, backed away a little bit, thus concealing his position behind some bushes, while ordering his goons to take out the Anbu members and steal their outfits. The junior members didn't have a chance as their necks instantly broke by Kabuto's goons, before they took the dead members away and changed into their uniforms.

Once inside, Kabuto began his trajectory towards the place towards the prison. Someone would question about the level of knowledge Orochimaru's second in command possessed, since he practically knew the way better than those who resided in here. Since they were disguised as Anbu, even the members who passed by didn't bother doing a double check and just saluted them. After a while, they arrived at the jail cell of Uchiha Sasuke and faced the two Anbu members guarding the boy. Kabuto addressed them as being the relief for guarding the Uchiha's prison, only this time it got the attention of those who stood guarding the prison. According to Ibiki, they had express orders to remain on guard duty for the entire night, so it couldn't be right. However, their quick wits didn't save them from being slaughtered by Kabuto's quick chakra scalpels. The sound of them falling on the ground alerted Sasuke of an occurrence. When he turned to look, though, he just let a single humpf in return from seeing Kabuto in disguise.

"Well, hello there Sasuke-kun; I trust that Konoha treated you well these couple of days, you don't have a single damage on your body" – Said Kabuto as he was decoding the code meant to open the jail.

"What are you doing here Kabuto?" – Asked Sasuke, though the answer was quite clear.

"That didn't sound like a thank you to me Sasuke-kun, I'd believe that you should appreciate that we're rescuing you" – Said Kabuto as the sound of gate opening appeared and then he was inside staring at the Uchiha more like searching the restriction seals and tracking seals of any kind that would endanger their mission. After some help from a black haired woman, Kabuto managed to find a most intricate pattern of seals being used, before concluding it to be Jiraiya's work as per Orochimaru's instructions. The woman, then, focused some chakra and managed to disrupt the chain of seals, thus freeing Sasuke from both the tracking seal and the chakra restriction seal. Sasuke was shocked to see the seal's effect were gone and looked Kabuto only to see the man smile while his glasses were shining.

"You could thank Karin here for this work, she has the ability of sensing chakra and an expansive knowledge regarding Fuinjutsu. Now, we can talk later once we are at Orochimaru's cave" – Said Kabuto, before Sasuke nodded. Inside his mind, though, was a different issue altogether. He remembered Kakashi comparing his actions to the very same man Sasuke vowed to kill and it sickened him to be compared to his older brother. He thought about Naruto and his never-ending curiosity of getting the answers about the blond. However, if he chose to stay locked in a cell forever, not only he wouldn't reach his goal, but also he wouldn't get to know about his ultimate rival and his secrets for getting stronger. So he chose once again to escape from the very same village that happened to be founded by his very clan a long time ago.

* * *

**===At the Hokage's office===**

Tsunade had already finished her work for the day. Not having much to do, she decided to drink some of her precious sake and look at the village that she swore to protect as Hokage. However, for some unknown reason, she was not relaxed. It was something at the back of her head saying that something was not wrong, but she just couldn't place this feeling. Suddenly, Yamato and Rikimaru, in their Anbu outfits, came barging in, screaming that the Uchiha escaped from his prison.

"Report goddamit, how the hell did he manage to escape? He had seals to prevent him from using chakra as well as seals that would alert Jiraiya in case he escaped from the village" – Shouted Tsunade to which Yamato nodded.

"I'm afraid that he had help, Tsunade-sama, we've found four of our junior members dead outside the Anbu HQ entrance. Also, the two officers assigned to guard the Uchiha's prison were killed by what appeared to be the use of medical Ninjutsu. Their muscles were sliced from the inside and only one man could attempt such level of control necessary to do something like this" – Explained Yamato, earning a nod from Tsunade, before she snarled Kabuto's name, while clenching her teeth in anger.

"Shizune, call the council here right now and assemble the names I'll say right now: Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto and Sarutobi Asuma, immediately" – Shouted Tsunade to which Shizune acknowledged and ran immediately to find them.

"Yamato and Rikimaru, you both are to stay here as well" – Ordered the Hokage earning a nod from the Anbu members who in turn stood explaining more details of Kabuto and his team, since four Anbu uniforms were found trashed outside the village.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

Naruto was asleep on his apartment when he sensed a familiar feeling nearby. Immediately opening his eyes and grabbing a kunai, he found Kakashi outside the window with a not so amused expression on his face. Probably from staying up this time at night, Naruto wondered.

"Naruto, the Hokage is calling for both of us immediately, get dressed" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and went back to his wardrobe to pick up his Jounin vest and both his swords, before leaving the apartment. Kakashi appeared alongside him and the two vanished towards the Hokage's office.

* * *

**===Back at the Hokage's office===**

After arriving at the room, Naruto was surprised to see Yamato, Asuma and the councilors there along with Tsunade.

"Glad you could join us Naruto, Kakashi. This is an emergency situation. We received news that Uchiha Sasuke managed to escape from Konoha a couple of minutes ago." – Said Tsunade, only waiting for some outburst to come specifically from the blond in front of her, the same way that the members of the council did, but to her surprise, there wasn't a single word coming from Naruto and that scared Tsunade more than Orochimaru coming once more with the entire Snake clan with him. She proceeded to explain exactly what happened and the number of members Kabuto have with him. After she reported what happened, she then proceeded to report the new mission to the group.

"This is an S ranked mission starting immediately. You five are to find Kabuto's group and retrieve the Uchiha. We cannot let him reach Orochimaru!" – Ordered Tsunade, earning a nod from the five. Naruto, though couldn't leave without asking something first.

"Tsunade-sama, with all due respect, Sasuke has, as of now betrayed Konoha two times already. I don't believe this is to be considered a rescue mission but rather an assassination one." – Said Naruto, before one of the councilors responded for the Hokage.

"Uzumaki-san, how dare you speak such nonsense? The Uchiha Doujutsu is vital to our village's prosperity; it's been with us since this village's foundation. We cannot assassinate him" – Shouted Homura, before seeing Naruto sigh in dismay.

"With all due respect Homura-sama, this is the second time we're placing our ninja force against someone whose only direction is towards killing his brother and we all know, wouldn't even consider being on our side. May I remind you that on the first time, almost three clan heirs lost their lives trying to retrieve the Uchiha. Now, all five of us would have to restrict our abilities in order to only incapacitate the enemy, rather than being able to eliminate a treat to this village's prosperity as you sir self put it. The enemy won't just settle for just incapacitating us, so we'd start this with a disadvantage" – Said Naruto, before seeing the members of the council not having arguments to counter Naruto's. It was true that the first time, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Neji Hyuuga almost got killed in battle from trying to rescue the Uchiha and all of them were from major clans and vital to the village's prosperity. However, instead of trying to reason with the boy, the councilors tried getting the Hokage on their side, telling her to teach this Jounin some manners.

"Order here, what I say goes. Naruto, I understand your reasons here, but as Hokage, I must do the right thing. Try to understand that should the Sharingan fall into Orochimaru's clutches once more, there won't be much time before he will take Sasuke's body for him and thus the gaining the Sharingan. The mission stays as it is, but should it prove to be impossible to reach the main goal, I'm issuing a secondary objective which is incapacitating the Sharingan, you're all dismissed" – Ordered Tsunade to which the group in front of her nodded and vanished via Shunshin.

After leaving, the councilors tried to reason with the Hokage about the secondary objective from fear of losing the doujutsu forever, but Tsunade remained firm on her position.

"Councilors, while this village is keen on maintaining the Sharingan, we cannot allow a traitor free passage. Both of you saw similar looks on the Jounin faces, they all agreed with Naruto the minute he opened his mouth. Besides, even if the Sharingan is lost forever, we'd rid ourselves of Orochimaru trying to get his hands on the accursed Doujutsu, which is why he invaded Konoha in the first place. Now, I'll get some rest and I advise both of you to do the same." – Said Tsunade before the councilors left without saying a single word in reply.


	20. Stubborness

**

* * *

****Chapter 20 – Stubbornness**

**Beta: Dreetje**

* * *

After leaving Tsunade's office, the rescue team left immediately towards Sasuke's direction. Although different in every way, the entire group had one thing in common. They all loathed the Uchiha clan with passion. Naruto and Kakashi were different because they belonged to the same team as Sasuke and even though Naruto didn't fancy his time with his team, he was against turning his back to them and even more, turning his back to the village they sworn to protect. Now here was a thought that occurred to Naruto and he would remember to ask the traitor. When a ninja receives a hitai-ate, such act represents one's oath to protect the village's best interests. So, if a ninja accepts the hitai-ate, that means that they give their word of honor to the Hokage. That being said, how much weight carries a promise made by a member of the once prestigious Uchiha Clan for Sasuke to betray said oath not one but two times and still think of reviving his family's honor.

Kakashi was looking at his ex-student now comrade in battle with worry written on his face. Ever since Naruto changed a year ago, Kakashi found it hard to read the blond sometimes. For all the knowledge he had on studying people's facets, Kakashi was having trouble figuring out what Naruto was thinking right now. If he were to consider the old Naruto, he would be thinking more in terms of getting Sasuke and making him realize the error of his ways, but the new Naruto wouldn't think like that.

The silver haired Jounin remembered Naruto's words upon receiving the mission and although Kakashi agreed with the blond, he wondered what possessed Naruto to think in those terms. It was way too vicious for someone like Naruto to consider and the truth was that it frightened Kakashi. Naruto was a wild card with abilities that no one even began to grasp.

For the Jounin leader of this mission, this was both good and bad. Good, since he could place Naruto against pretty much anyone while being assured that the blond wouldn't fight in disadvantage, however Naruto may very well be resentful of Sasuke and let his emotions get in the way of things. One sure thing was that Kakashi just couldn't place Naruto against Sasuke and his decision came with reason. This mission required a professional point of view with no room for emotion whatsoever and should Naruto fight Sasuke, the repercussions may very well be catastrophic. Either if Naruto displays the ability of a professional, there is a high possibility that Sasuke would attack Naruto with emotion, thus forcing a bad situation. He couldn't do this.

"Regroup team, I want to talk about something. Yamato, what's their position?" – Asked Kakashi to which Yamato placed a hand on the ground.

"They are a couple of miles straight ahead. They stopped for the time being, but we should continue after them shortly, my range can only go so far" – Said Yamato, earning a nod from Kakashi.

"Ok, it'll be just a few comments. First, I know all of you know this but it's wise to repeat, do not engage the enemy unless we established who should face who. Also, Naruto, I will tell you right now, so there isn't room for doubt. You won't be the one facing Sasuke, the reasons I'll let you figure out, any questions?" – Asked Kakashi, before seeing Naruto positioning to speak.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm fine with not facing the traitor, I wouldn't stand seeing his face right now. But I call dibs on Kabuto" – Said Naruto, earning a questioned look from the leader, before Naruto explained. "Without him, Orochimaru won't have his second in command and Sasuke can be subdued easily. Plus, when we manage to either capture Sasuke once more or disable the Sharingan, we'll be certain that Orochimaru won't be able to repair it, thus he won't have use for Sasuke anymore" – Explained Naruto, leaving no room for any sort of counter-argument from either Kakashi or the rest of the team.

"I'll take into consideration Naruto. You're right; Kabuto is every bit a center-objective in this mission as Sasuke is. I'll decide when we arrive, let's move" – Said Kakashi, before vanishing soon being followed by the rest of the team.

* * *

**===In Rain Country===**

The Rain Country got its name because of the torrential rain that would torment the land at least once a day. Thousands and thousands of pipes were built to canalize the water from the rain to be later used by the population. Another peculiar characteristic of said country is that it houses the most dangerous organization ever created. Akatsuki is composed of nine members nowadays, all of them at least S ranked missing-nins responsible for capital sins on their respective home villages. Uchiha Itachi and Hoshikage Kisame are two of the known members of this organization, though they aren't the strongest ones. The organization is leaded by a man named Pain. Supposedly, Pain has the rinnegan, a doujutsu rumored to have appeared when the Sage of the Six Paths crossed the elemental nations and created what today is called ninja arts.

However, what few knew was that Pain wasn't the supreme leader of the organization, being submitted to one member that wears an orange mask. To those of the Akatsuki, Tobi is referred to be a junior member, not even dignified of the position. Goofy and always making jokes, he would manage to enrage pretty much everyone that can be teased easily like Kisame. However, only Pain and his comrade Konan know about the real identity of Tobi, one Uchiha Madara. Madara was, along with the heir of the Senju Clan, co-founder of the Hidden Village in the Leaves, but after a dispute between him and Hashirama Senju, there were no longer signs of his existence. Some said he vanished along with Hashirama, but the truth was that Madara escaped and was on the loose until he became the hidden leader of this organization.

In fact, both Pain and Tobi/Madara were now discussing their strategy concerning the remaining bijuus Hachibi and Kyuubi. Both of them were giving the organization a hard time for two different reasons. The Hachibi was untraceable simply as that. For months, they searched for the eight tailed demon without any luck whatsoever. The Kyuubi, though, was more interesting. Words reached them that Aoi joined their forces and getting inside that village and face both him and the sannin Jiraiya was almost impossible at least without earning suspicions.

Another interesting fact was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki himself. From Itachi's report, three to four years ago, this Uzumaki Naruto was nothing but a brat, with no knowledge about what it took to be a ninja neither the skills that came along with it. However, since last year, Akatsuki had information of Naruto's growth, even the fact that he managed to be promoted twice in less than a year, being now a Jounin. They knew some of Naruto's exploits throughout the land and even his first fight with Uchiha Sasuke which turned into victory for the blond. If they could assume his level right now, Naruto would be an A ranked level opponent.

"Any words on the Hachibi?" – Asked Tobi to which Pain nodded in the negative, saying that Zetsu wasn't able to find anything.

"We already tried everywhere but Kumo. The reason being we already captured the Nibi which was a Jounin from the Cloud. We doubt that they have yet another bijuu in their possession" – Reported Pain before seeing Madara think.

"It's possible that they have the Hachibi, send in Kakuzu and Hidan to search for it right away" – Ordered Madara, earning a nod from Pain before he asked about the other Jinchuuriki to which Madara responded. "We'll focus our time on capturing the Hachibi first. Konoha has become too strong for us to simply send two of our members. Send Zetsu to scout on more information about Uzumaki Naruto" – Said Madara to which Pain nodded and left the room.

* * *

**===With Anko===**

Slowly opening her eyes so to adjust to the sunlight that invaded the room, Anko stretched her arm with a smile on her face, knowing that she would feel her lover's body resting alongside her. However, when she didn't feel him, she flipped her body immediately worrying that something wrong happened. Every since, she and Naruto began sleeping together, Anko was getting accustomed to his presence so much that she found it difficult to sleep if he wasn't there. When she looked, she noticed that his side of the bed was messy so he had to get up early for some mission. She also noticed a sheet of paper right on top of Naruto's pillow. After picking it up, Anko turned to read it as she rubbed her eyes a bit.

* * *

_Anko-chan, _

_Kakashi-sensei came early today summoning me for a high level mission. I don't know the mission details, since we'll be debriefed once I arrive at the Hokage's office. Whatever happens, I'll come home to you my dear. _

_Naruto. _

* * *

After reading it, Anko just felt the need to hold the note for dear life. Anko knew perfectly well when ninjas had to be summoned immediately and she knew that whatever mission Naruto was sent to, it was either A or S ranked. Quickly getting dressed, she went to visit Kurenai, who was already accustomed to Asuma being called in the middle of the night for an emergency mission. On the way, Anko couldn't help but see the irony of her situation. There were occasions when she was sent on such missions and she wouldn't care if something happened, since she didn't have anyone worrying for her. Now, though, it was her boyfriend and her heart was hurting from the possibility of Naruto getting hurt or even killed.

It didn't take long until Anko arrived at Kurenai's house, before she rang the doorbell.

"Anko-chan, that's weird, I wouldn't think you'd be up so soon" - Said Kurenai, expecting Anko to give a sarcastic or either nasty remark, before seeing Anko's serious face.

"Kurenai-chan, Naruto-kun was sent to an emergency mission and I worry for him. I don't know what this mission entails and I can't help but worry. What can I do?" - Asked Anko, before seeing Kurenai ushering her inside for a cup of tea.

"Asuma was also sent to this emergency mission as well. I was awake when he was summoned and the Anbu member told him what it is. Sasuke Uchiha escaped once more and he was sent to retrieve the little traitor, I'll fix us some tea" - Stated Kurenai, before going to the kitchen, leaving a furious Anko in the living-room.

She knew Naruto beat the crap out of Sasuke Uchiha one time, and then she knew why Tsunade called him to join the hunt once more. It infuriated her, though, how much trouble can that prick cause to the village simply by existing. She was lost in thought between imagining what she would do to torture him when Kurenai arrived with a cup of tea.

"I know that Kakashi went with Naruto as well, but will they be enough? Sasuke was restricted by Fuinjutsu. Someone helped him escape, I'm sure of it" - Said Anko, as she accepted the cup of tea to which Kurenai nodded.

"I've heard of someone breaking in the Anbu corps yesterday and killed a bunch of Junior Anbus. The only one who would have interest in rescuing Sasuke would be Orochimaru, so it's possible that his henchmen Kabuto is on this somehow" - Thought Kurenai out loud, earning a nod from Anko who guessed this as well.

The crimson eyed woman looked at Anko and forced up a reassuring smile, while wondering about the time when she would imagine Anko ever needing one in the first place.

"I'm sure that they will succeed, Kakashi and Asuma are with him and Naruto has already beaten Sasuke once, he'll do it again for sure" - Smiled Kurenai, while not so sure about what she said, but at least be able to calm Anko, somewhat. Surprisingly, it worked as she saw Anko smile back at her.

"I guess you're right, I just panicked because of the vague note he left me with" - Smiled Anko, earning a nod from Kurenai who then invited her friend for some breakfast.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

After another travel, the group managed to find Sasuke's group just near the place that Naruto and Sasuke fought two times already. Kakashi's group was observing the one from Sound and trying to gauge their abilities. The Sharingan wielder was focusing his Sharingan to sense at least some level of chakra and surprisingly, so, he managed to find one.

The one with blue hair which seemed to be carrying a familiar zanbatou, was using Suiton chakra to a level that Kakashi didn't thought possible. To the unknown eye, the foe was just standing there not doing much, but somehow Kakashi could feel an abundance of Suiton chakra being used.

Shifting his eye to the next foe, he could feel that the man had high level of chakra. Also Kakashi could feel a similarity with Sasuke's chakra which meant that the big one has a cursed seal. Kabuto and Sasuke weren't news to Kakashi, so he shifted to the last one of their group who appeared to be a woman, however Kakashi couldn't find anything out of ordinary with her. Her chakra, while big for a kunoichi, wasn't on par with his group and he couldn't detect any hidden abilities coming from the girl.

Closing his Sharingan eye for now, Kakashi turned to the group behind him and issued orders.

"Okay, their group is highly dangerous and each member has to be taken seriously. Sasuke will be mine to take and Kabuto will be taken care of by Rikimaru here. Sorry Naruto, but because of your chakra abundance, you're best fitted to fight against their chakra powerhouse, the big fellow next to that girl over there. Yamato and Asuma will take the one with the zanbatou on his back" - Ordered Kakashi, earning a nod from those present.

"Kakashi, what can you tell us about our opponents?" - Asked Asuma, earning Kakashi's attention.

"Your opponent Asuma seems to be a Kenjutsu specialist aligned with Suiton Ninjutsu. Yamato had experience with fighting one Swordsman of the Mist once, it appears that he have some level of relationship with them as that sword is similar with the one Momochi Zabuza used. Naruto's opponent is a chakra powerhouse and his chakra is tainted, probably caused by the cursed seal, although which level I'm not sure. Yamato and Asuma, the reason I'm placing both of you together against one foe is the girl. My sharingan doesn't detect any threat coming from her, but I won'tt take any chances. While one deals with the Suiton user, the other one will cover and look out for the girl in case she attacks, understood" - Ordered Kakashi, before everyone nodded and advanced.

Seconds after, the Konoha group arrived right in front of their opponents, before seeing Kabuto smile.

"It's about time you all showed up. I was thinking you'd be hiding there all day" - Said Kabuto, but no one even thought of replying, since they were aware that the enemy knew of their presence, since Kakashi was using the sharingan.

Being the team leader, Kakashi turned to Sasuke and reasoned with him to return.

"Uchiha Sasuke, we came here to rescue you, come willingly and your sentence will be reduced" - Said Kakashi, earning a snort from the Uchiha.

"I wouldn't bother doing this Kakashi, I'm well aware of what I did and the consequences" - Said Sasuke, before turning his eyes to the blond behind Kakashi. "Oi Naruto, it seems we'll be facing each other once more, well then, this time I won't underestimate your abilities. Also, don't try the element of surprise with me, since I know you don't only know Fuuton" - Taunted Sasuke.

"I didn't think you wouldn't reach that conclusion by yourself, Sasuke. Don't worry about facing me, though, there is no sense in beating someone twice" - Said Naruto, smiling at the face of pure anger coming from the Uchiha at being once ridiculed by the blond. Sasuke didn't think twice before charging the blond, but he didn't take into account that Naruto said the truth about not facing him and seeing Kakashi's feet hitting him right on the chest, thus sending him flying. Kakashi followed suit and the rest attacked the designated opponents.

* * *

**===Sasuke x Kakashi====**

Landing on all fours, Sasuke saw Kakashi arriving at the open field, before once more, student and teacher faced each other in battle.

"You know something Sasuke, somehow I knew you'd try to escape once again and I don't believe for a second, that you're doing this to face your brother in battle, am I right?" - Asked Kakashi to which Sasuke smirked and nodded to his ex-sensei.

"Was I that obvious Kakashi? I do intend to face Itachi in battle, but I'll admit that Naruto beating me in battle was enough place him first in my list of who I want to defeat" - Explained Sasuke, with a smile on his face, not even knowing the real reason Kakashi wanted to talk for a while.

The Sharingan observation took a considerable bunch of his chakra and it would take a while to recover.

"He surprised you didn't he? Hell, he surprised me as well. I'd figure you wanted to face him in battle once more, that's one of the reasons, I chose myself as your opponent" - Said Kakashi as he crossed his arms.

"So I figure, but what about the other reasons?" - Asked Sasuke.

"It's the same feeling that the Sandaime Hokage felt upon knowing of Orochimaru's treason. Upon being trusted by the Hokage to train Genins, the Jounins becomes responsible for whatever happens to them, either good or bad. Therefore, if the Genin commits an act of treason against the village, it's up to his or her Jounin-sensei to deal with the situation. You were lucky Sasuke, that I was on a mission the first time you chose to escape, but now that I'm here, I'll do everything in my power to do what's right" - Explained Kakashi, as he felt his chakra being recharged by the minute.

_Just a little more and I'll be ready._

"I know I was weak that day and wouldn't be able to beat you, but I'm stronger now than ever before. I'll beat you and then I'll go face the dobe" - Said Sasuke as he activated his Sharingan and trapped Kakashi in a Genjutsu only for it to be dispelled almost instantly by Kakashi.

"A dirty trick coming from you Sasuke, let's see what else can you do besides using dirty tricks to win battles" - Said Kakashi, charging Sasuke with speeds that surprised the Uchiha, who activated the Sharingan and perceived the attack, being able to dodge albeit barely. The strange thing though, that Kakashi's chakra was different than the normal blue aura that would travel the chakra coils.

Kakashi didn't wait for Sasuke to relax and was on the move once more with a barrage of punches and kicks, all of them being dodged by Sasuke because of the Sharingan's predictive ability. Suddenly, Kakashi aimed a straight punch at Sasuke's jaw, which Sasuke dodged, however his Sharingan showed pure white chakra extending from Kakashi's fist, hitting the Uchiha dead on, before sending him flying with considerable force.

Using the flying momentum, Sasuke flipped his body and landed once more on his feet, before wiping his bloody mouth.

"Kakashi, what the hell is this chakra of yours? It's not like anybody else's?" – Asked Sasuke to which Kakashi nodded.

"It took a while to figure out huh Sasuke; actually I believe I overestimated your perceptive abilities a bit. I'm the son of Hatake Sakumo, AkA White Fang of Konoha. Said name was earned for a reason, my ex-student. His blood is my blood so I inherited the white chakra of my father. With it, I have several advantages, but sadly for you, I won't tell any of them, let's see how you fare on a fight with an opponent you know nothing about" – Said Kakashi, as he grabbed close to five shurikens from his holster, before throwing straight at Sasuke with no apparent danger whatsoever.

Only, though, when Sasuke moved to defend the incoming projectile, did Kakashi started making hand seals for **Ninpou Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Ninja Arts: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu). The five suddenly became fifty, almost piercing Sasuke's entire body, leaving him no other alternative but to use an academy jutsu and replace his body with a log nearby. Kakashi followed Sasuke's presence and picked up a kunai from his holster, before pairing up with Sasuke's Kusanagi. Sasuke's Sharingan was able to detect the same white chakra being channeled to the kunai in front of him, thus making it strong enough to parry with his sword, the problem was that Kakashi's kunai was winning the fight and yet another time, another weapon managed to parry the famous kusanagi that Orochimaru once spoken of its invincibility.

Sasuke realized that he would lose the battle, so he flipped his body quickly and aimed a reverse kick right at Kakashi's ribs, which connected sending Kakashi back a couple of meters, before making a couple of hand seals for **Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu). Immediately, a meteorite like fireball emerged from Sasuke's month heading straight towards Kakashi, before a huge explosion soon followed.

Sasuke was under the expression that Kakashi was engulfed by the explosion, but he could very well realize that Kakashi wouldn't fall for this technique so the Uchiha knew Kakashi would attack by surprise. It was only when a hand grabbed his right foot did he realize what Kakashi was going to do. However, it was too late as Sasuke was engulfed by Kakashi's D ranked earth technique. "Whatever training you did Sasuke, I still managed to catch you with the same jutsu" – Said Kakashi, before seeing Sasuke suddenly emerging from the earth like he could pass through walls.

"While earth techniques aren't my affinity, I learned a couple of techniques. It's a shame, though, since you didn't take the advantage and kill me, **CHIDORI NAGASHI"** – Screamed Sasuke, before sending an electric current that engulfed Kakashi spot on, thus sending way too many volts inside Kakashi's body. Focusing some chakra to his feet, Kakashi managed to escape the electrical field, but still surprised that Sasuke managed to evolve his signature technique.

"So what do you think of this new technique Kakashi? I just figured yours needed some improvement from the straight forward assassination technique" – Smiled Sasuke, before activating his sharingan once more, but this time also activating the cursed seal level one. Kakashi for his turn, smiled at the course of events.

"Surely it's impressive to a point, since the chidori alone takes too much chakra out of you, if I recall correctly, you could only do the chidori two times before you'd ran out of chakra, I wonder if that's the reason you resorted to the cursed seal to be able to use the technique without fear of chakra loss" – Said Kakashi, before charging once again with white chakra being channeled throughout his body, improving his speed to match Sasuke's. Kakashi aimed a mid-level kick, which was defended by Sasuke using his right arm, before using his left arm to aim a strong punch aiming Kakashi's left cheek.

The silver haired shinobi dodged the incoming punch and dropped to the ground before aiming a low-kick at Sasuke who in turn flipped his body, before taking his kusanagi once more and trying to deliver a swift killing blow to Kakashi. Kakashi anticipated said maneuver and parried it with what appeared to be a nodachi.

"This sword belonged to my father, I haven't used it since I left the Anbu, but for this mission I decided to take it out of the closet" – Said Kakashi as he and Sasuke were at a stalemate with the swords parried in the middle. However, the smaller the sword, the better it is to stop the big sword from attacking and swiftly deliver a slicing attack right at Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke snarled at the attack, but didn't have the luxury since Kakashi followed suit with a powerful kick on the wounded side, making Sasuke double in pain as he was sent flying across the open field.

Immediately, making hand seals for **Katon Karyuu Endan **(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile Jutsu), Kakashi exhaled a white layer of fire and charged after Sasuke like an incoming fire missile. Upon seeing the attack, Sasuke quickly grabbed his sword and pierced it on the ground while using it to evade the attack, however he wasn't quick enough to avoid it entirely as the attack managed to hit his right leg, reducing his mobility severely. Kneeling in pain, he looked up to see Kakashi standing there in front of him with an impassive face and his hands on his pockets.

"What's in your mind right now?" – Asked Kakashi, earning a look in surprise from Sasuke, before Kakashi continued. "Why did you ran away once more? Truly, Orochimaru couldn't possibly teach you more than he had and I believe you know that. So why did you run away?" – Asked Kakashi to which Sasuke frowned and snarled at his ex-sensei.

"He's the only one that managed to give me power to defeat my brother, dammit. That's why…." – Shouted Sasuke, before seeing Kakashi look down in pity at how low one of the best promises in Konoha had gotten.

"You know, observing your growth under my watch, you only needed one thing to beat Itachi" – Said Kakashi, earning a look in wonder from Sasuke who then asked what it was.

"Time, patience…You had a fully matured Sharingan at the age of twelve years old, you were well on your way to become a Chuunin and be able to face tough opponents out there and accumulate the experience necessary to defeat Itachi in the future. Now, though, you lowered yourself and your family by joining a traitor of the very same village your family proudly founded a long time ago. Your hate and anger got in the way of what's really important and you just couldn't let go" – Explained Kakashi, earning another snarling from Sasuke, but this time he subsided a little, but Kakashi continued the verbal assault.

"That's another reason why I didn't set you against Naruto, Sasuke. The thing is that I wanted to see for myself just who is Uchiha Sasuke and happened to my one time student. I've seen now, that no matter what happens, you'll always be a selfish, egoistical child who still cries over what happened thirteen years ago. I'm sorry Sasuke, but even if I don't win this fight, I'll make every effort in my book for you to be declared missing-nin and be hunted, get up and show me your real power, that tainted one that Orochimaru gave you, I ain't playing no more with you" – Said Kakashi as he lift his headband to show his Sharingan, but this time it was different, Sasuke could tell.

This sharingan was white instead of black, but the shape didn't differ from the one he used against Deidara upon rescuing Gaara from Akatsuki.

Seeing this, Sasuke snarled once more and this time activated his second level cursed seal, thus healing his leg and transforming into that hideous creature. Now, the true fight begins.

* * *

**===Naruto x Juugo===**

Apart from the brutal battle between Sasuke and Kakashi, Naruto was also having one against the man named Juugo. After assessing his abilities, Naruto concluded that the man was just a berserker with the cursed seal. His constant use of the seal clouded his judgment on attacks and he would charge Naruto recklessly without even wondering if Naruto could harm him. For now, Juugo was in cursed seal level one and holding a certain level of control. He charged Naruto with a kunai and Naruto parried with his katana. There wasn't reason to show his second sword without the need to.

Juugo twisted his body and used blunt force to punch Naruto who in turn just evaded the punch and twisted his body, landing a reverse kick on the man's stomach hard. Seeing the man reaching for his stomach, Naruto once more kicked him and now with more force, thus sending him flying, before placing his sword back on the holster and made some hand seals for **Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **(Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu). The incoming horizontal tornado hit Juugo dead on and sent him straight to the incoming trees, even managing to rip a couple of them, before stopping at the forth.

Suddenly, Juugo got up and began to shout at Naruto.

"I'm going to kill you now…." – Shouted the man, before turning to the cursed seal level two and transforming into a beast with horns on his head and charged Naruto with speeds that would impress just about any Jounin. Grabbing his two swords now, Naruto summoned chakra throughout his body to initiate his Bakushin (Wind Dash) style of kenjutsu. Juugo, one second later, was in front of Naruto aiming a barrage of punches at the blond, who in turn used wind chakra to dodge the attacks and land a couple of slices throughout Juugo's body. However, just as Naruto would cut it, the wound would soon heal, which meant that the slices would need to be more thorough.

"You're fucking dead…" – Shouted Juugo, as he tried to grab Naruto's neck and break it, but Naruto vanished in a little tornado and appeared a few distance away from Juugo, before initiating a fast series of hand seals for his new technique **Doton Tetsuryuudan no Jutsu **(Earth Release: Iron Dragon Projectile Jutsu), before slamming his hands on the ground, before the iron dragon's head appeared and expelled iron balls straight at Juugo.

The man managed to dodge a few of them, but it only took one to cause major damage. The iron boulder hit Juugo dead on and sent him flying. Doing hand seals once more, this time for Jiraiya's technique **Doton Yumi Numa **(Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld Jutsu), Naruto created a large enough swamp for Juugo to fall in and be trapped. He tried to move his body and get out, but it was inevitable.

"Don't bother trying to move…the more you do it, more you'll sink and die" – Said Naruto as he crossed his arms, watching as Juugo finally sink his whole body below the mud level. Smiling, Naruto turned around and was heading to aid his co-workers; however he sensed a large use of chakra and turned to see the swamp he created as the ground started to shake. Juugo suddenly jumped from the swamp and landed where the swamp ended.

"You really are persistent, you know that" – Said Naruto as he was ready once more to fight the berserker. Focusing a little bit of chakra, he dispelled the swamp and then faced Juugo who by now saliva was leaving his teeth from wanting to kill someone.

Naruto for his turn was thinking in delivering the finishing move as he extended his arm and the initial Rasengan shape appeared. After a while, Naruto added the wind element to the sphere and he added a little wind shuriken swirling around the ball of energy. Now that the wind Rasengan was created, Naruto watched as Juugo charged him once again recklessly, before Naruto focused chakra on his feet for the necessary propulsion to meet Juugo halfway.

The man wanted to punch Naruto in the face, but he couldn't compete with Naruto's wind Rasengan. Naruto dodged the incoming punch and slammed the **Fuuton Rasengan **right into Juugo's chest. The technique pierced Juugo's chest instantly and the light in his eyes was gone before he ever fell on the ground. Closing his eyes for a second, Naruto allowed himself a minute or two, before focusing on the others. Instantly, he summoned three Kage Bunshins and told them to scout the other fights to see which one needed help.

A couple of minutes later, he received the memories of the clone that watched Kakashi and Sasuke's fight. It seemed that Kakashi's Sharingan was now more evolved as he was toe to toe with Sasuke in his cursed seal level two. Also, Kakashi didn't appear to have any injuries, but Sasuke was. The other clone was dispelled and Naruto got to see Rikimaru's fight against Kabuto. As usual, Rikimaru would do damage and Kabuto would heal, because of that ability of his, therefore a stalemate. The last clone dispelled and Naruto got to see that Asuma managed to severe Suigetsu's head with his trench knifes and the girl was restrained by Yamato, thus awaiting for orders.

Opening his eyes, Naruto saw both Asuma and Yamato in front of him as they looked at Juugo's body with a hole on his chest.

"Don't blame me for the overkill, he just didn't want to go easily" – Said Naruto before Asuma chuckled and Yamato smiled before sealing the man's dead body inside a scroll.

"What happened to the girl?" – Asked Naruto to which Yamato said that his wood clone was the one restraining her a few miles away.

"I wonder how Rikimaru and Kakashi are fairing." – Asked Asuma, earning a nod from Yamato, before Naruto responded.

"Kakashi is fine, he's coping well with Sasuke's cursed seal level two, but Rikimaru is in a pickle. For every wound he inflict on Kabuto, the bastard just heals and gets up again" – Reported Naruto, earning a look in surprise from Yamato and Asuma.

"How do you know all this?" – Asked Asuma to which Naruto looked at him and responded that he sent Kage Bunshins to investigate all the fights and then collected their memories.

Asuma was impressed, but Yamato immediately became the second in command and started analyzing their situation. Rikimaru would need assistance against Kabuto, but Naruto can't be near Sasuke so he would send Naruto to assist Rikimaru, thus leaving him and Asuma to help Kakashi.

"Naruto, go assist Rikimaru, me and Asuma will aid Kakashi, understood?" – Asked Yamato, earning a nod from Naruto and Asuma, before the group scattered once more.

* * *

**===Kakashi x Sasuke===**

Kakashi and Sasuke were going at it in the middle of the clearing with straight out Taijutsu. Neither one of them managed to land a hit on the other, but while Sasuke had the aid of the cursed seal giving him extra chakra, Kakashi was no chakra powerhouse and had to rely on his own to deal with Sasuke. Sasuke managed to land a kick on Kakashi's chest, thus sending Kakashi down a couple of meters, when Asuma and Yamato landed next to him.

"Kakashi, two of the enemies are now dead and we restrained the woman. Naruto went to assist Rikimaru against Kabuto and we came to aid you, what's your status?" – Reported Yamato to which Kakashi looked at him and nodded before looking at the slightly panting Sasuke in his cursed seal level two.

"We reached a stalemate here, I'm afraid. Neither one can land a significant hit on the other. However, his cursed seal gives him more chakra, hence why I believe I'll be out of it before him" – Explained Kakashi.

"Rest a bit Kakashi, let us handle him for the time being" – Said Asuma to which Kakashi nodded and kneeled on the ground as Yamato and Asuma took front. Sasuke for his part managed to laugh and deliver a nasty comment on Kakashi.

"Asking for help Kakashi? Where is all the talk from before?" – Asked Sasuke while Kakashi looked at him with looks that showed Kakashi that he wasn't perturbed in the least.

"Not everyone has a second source of chakra they can use, Sasuke. You focused so much on using the cursed seal that you forgot what is to fight without it" – Said Kakashi, before he saw Sasuke take his kusanagi and charge against the three Jounins, however he was stopped by Asuma's trench knifes, before he received a strong kick from Yamato in the face. Asuma took the opportunity and used his favorite weapon to carve a deep cut on Sasuke's left eye, before the Uchiha screamed in pain. The cursed seal receded in an instant as he kneeled on the ground and used his hand to ease the pain from his eye. Standing in front of him was Asuma, Yamato and Kakashi, before he shouted at Asuma.

"Why did you do this to me, bastard? You destroyed the only way for me to defeat Itachi" – Shouted Sasuke, but Asuma was impassive as he looked down at the traitor.

"I tend not to be lenient with traitors. Especially one who would even think of joining Orochimaru; our mission orders were to bring you back or at least harm your Sharingan so that Orochimaru can't use it against the world" – Said Asuma as he stared at the one that could in the future be as strong as Itachi, but lowered himself to follow the same path of treason.

Kakashi closed his eyes and covered his Sharingan eye, before looking at Sasuke.

"Now that you have only one Sharingan eye, fighting Itachi will be impossible at least without proper training to learn to fight with only one eye. Rikimaru will certainly kill Kabuto and you'll be on your own against five Jounins. You can't hope to escape now, you're coming with us rather you like it or not. And who knows, maybe, during your sentence, you could train to cover the lack of the left eye" – Said Kakashi, before looking at Yamato and nodding for him to go through with the plan.

The wood user nodded and restrained Sasuke with his wood ability before making him inject a wood pill that was able to cut his chakra source. However, because of the huge strain, Sasuke just slept as he was carried by Asuma.

"Now, let's see about Rikimaru's fight and get back to Konoha" – Said Kakashi, before seeing both Rikimaru and Naruto landing in front of the group.

"Kakashi-sensei, the damn snake managed to escape but not without losing his right arm. Rikimaru-sensei managed to slice it, but Kabuto created a diversion and escaped" – Said Naruto to which Kakashi nodded before looking at the dejected face of Rikimaru, before smiling at his friend. He knew of Rikimaru's fame inside the Anbu and that no enemy ever escaped his grasp, before now. And seeing the man's dejected face was like taking away Kakashi's orange book from him. He, then, looked at Naruto who was looking at the sleeping form of Sasuke as he wondered what the blond was thinking right now.

"Quite vicious don't you think Asuma-sensei? And then you blame me for Juugo's overkill" – Said Naruto smiling to his sensei slash friend who in turn looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head while laughing while carrying Sasuke's body towards Konoha

Naruto then, once again, looked at the Uchiha but he didn't feel anything. _You lowered yourself so low that I don't even recognize you anymore Sasuke-teme_ - thought Naruto as he turned to follow his team until Kakashi stopped him.

"Are you ok, Naruto?" – Asked the concerned teacher, before seeing Naruto smile and ease the tension a bit.

"I sure am Kakashi-sensei. In the end, your strategy was better and we managed to complete the mission once more. To tell the truth, I didn't want to face him once more. I admit that the feeling of winning in a battle against him passed the moment I first beat him. Uchiha Sasuke is no longer the same _teme _I once knew. I can just hope that he'll find whatever he seeks inside that mind of his" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Kakashi as they followed Asuma and Yamato towards Konoha.


	21. Hostile Territory

**

* * *

****Chapter 21 – Hostile Territory**

**Beta: Dreetje**

* * *

Three months passed since the last mission to capture Sasuke, but not much happened. Sasuke got a larger punishment because of what he did and lost his status as a shinobi from the Leaf Village. Sure, those against it, protested for a while, but they couldn't do anything, simply because the last Uchiha escaped not once but twice.

There were even those who tried blaming Naruto for the sake of him being the scapegoat, but by doing so, the lone civilian member of the council would be implying that Kakashi, Asuma and two Anbus elite were lying and that was a heavy offense. Also Karin, the only survivor of the team from Sound was interrogated for important information regarding Orochimaru, before being released from lack of relevant information regarding the treacherous sannin, of course at the condition of never stepping inside Fire Country again.

After that mission, the missions severely reduced in Konoha at least that was Naruto's thought. After the mission to capture Sasuke, Naruto was called in for a couple of low B ranked missions here and there with several different shinobis. However, while it was nice for Naruto to get to know different people and work with them, the blond couldn't help but grow bored from the lack of a good fight once in a while. Sure, Kakashi sometimes volunteered to ease Naruto's urge, but they wouldn't go beyond a certain point, being better described as a advanced spar between two jounin. Anko also stepped in for help, even if it was in a different scenario. Naruto even had good memories of said battle as a single drop of blood fell from his nose. But while his girlfriend helped him in that area, he was left unattended in the shinobi department.

Nevertheless, this time allowed Naruto to better improve his **Tsuinken-ryuu** style of fighting and he also managed to improve his iron manipulation to a point of adding a new technique to his arsenal. **Doton Tetsu no Kasui **(Earth Release: Iron Spikes Jutsu) came to him when he saw an Iwa ninja doing the regular version in one of his missions and when he came up with the idea to Aoi, the bastard had the nerve to say that once again he already know the technique. It was irritating for Naruto, simply because the man could simply tell how many techniques there were to learn regarding iron manipulation, so that Naruto shouldn't bother asking him about it in the future.

It got worse when Aoi would just laugh when Naruto expressed said situation. Naruto knew, though, that the man couldn't stop talking about his team of genin who, by the way were coming along nicely under his command and that Aoi was expecting them to attempt the Chuunin exams very soon. Regarding his new technique, though, he could use it on his original doton technique (Doton Supaiku Ouchi – Earth Release: Spiked Pit Jutsu), since now he could create iron spikes instead of the regular ones, making it more deadly.

Lastly, regarding the last two elements (raiton and katon), Naruto was humble enough to admit that it would take a while to learn even the simplest techniques, let alone master these two elements. He was reading every piece of material available in Konoha's library, but so far he just couldn't grasp what needed to be done.

Kakashi did explain that learning an element which happens to be the opposite of the ninja's affinity, was next to impossible, at least without the sharingan, but no matter how annoyed Naruto was because of it, he would kill himself before wishing he had the accursed eye, of course, he didn't mean any offense regarding Kakashi as he tried to explain a couple of times upon seeing the man's dejected face. Naruto remembered Kakashi's story about how he obtained the sharingan and he explained to Kakashi, that Uchiha Obito was the family's exception. The silver haired jounin accepted the answer since Naruto was praising his friend because of the heroic act towards their teammate at the time.

Naruto stopped wondering about things for a while and focused on the opponent in front of him. Uzuki Yuugao came knocking on his door earlier today in order to practice some sword fighting and of course, chat some gossip with Anko. Naruto saw how close the women were, by the level of intimacy being displayed. Anko didn't object to Yuugao's request of renting her boyfriend for a kenjutsu spar, but she just couldn't keep her mouth shut at the time, so she let out the famous joke about them meeting together later for a threesome.

Of course, both Naruto and Yuugao were used to the fact that Anko often used sexual terms in order to make other uncomfortable and she could laugh at their faces. That was why when she finished talking; neither Yuugao nor Naruto changed their facial expressions, showing that Anko's plan was ruined.

"Focus Naruto, or are you thinking about what Anko-chan suggested earlier today, you pervert" - Joked Yuugao, earning a smile from Naruto. The blond thought about using the spell against the sorcerer, but thought against it in the end. He didn't know how Yuugao would feel, even if he was just kidding.

"Nonsense, Yuugao-san. But I can't help but imagine how many people she already spoke to about it; I would imagine some of them having to hide their bloody faces afterwards" - Smiled Naruto, earning a nod from Yuugao.

"Knowing her, I'd bet the entire male population in Konoha. She would use this joke line both with me and with Kurenai-chan in order to get a rise at the men, some were successful, a lot actually and very few of the male population didn't like it, but as Anko said at the time, we couldn't know if they were gays or straight with a good conscience" - Said Yuugao, still in position to strike Naruto any time.

"Huh, I wonder what Kakashi-sensei would say to something like that?" - Asked Naruto, also ready for the attack, but for his surprise, Yuugao said Kakashi was one of the exceptions, however, at the time, the man was all focused on Anbu missions.

Instantly, Yuugao charged Naruto with her ninjato with a quick attack coming from below, before Naruto pairing it with his two swords, before using his foot to deliver a front kick on Yuugao's chest, being, however, unsuccessful since Yuugao evaded and came from the right once again. This time Naruto parried the strike with his nodachi, thus holding Yuugao's ninjato while freeing his katana to get in position for the killing blow.

Being an Anbu, Yuugao positioned her sword as to get loose from Naruto's nodachi and parry Naruto's katana, before doing a back flip followed by some shuriken throwing, surprising the blond for a moment. Gathering his focus once more, Naruto positioned his two swords and analyzed the shurikens approaching. However, Yuugao wouldn't let him as she charged once more with a forward attack.

Focusing chakra on his feet, Naruto jumped high in the air and landing on a tree branch, thus evading both the shurikens and Yuugao's attack.

"I thought you said straight out kenjutsu?" - Asked Naruto, before seeing Yuugao smile deviously at the blond's misfortune.

"Since when do ninja abide by the rules Naruto? You cannot survive out there by playing fair; the enemy will surely use every means possible to win the fight" - Explained Yuugao, before seeing Naruto smile while closing his eyes. He immediately jumped to the ground and began to fight for real by focusing wind chakra to his feet. The woman was referred to as being Konoha's best sword fighter, but the minute she saw Naruto bending his body for the attack; the man vanished and appeared in front of her in less than a second.

She tried paring Naruto's katana, but she wasn't fast enough to position the weapon effectively, thus losing her grip on the ninjato. The weapon was sent flying towards an incoming tree where it stayed lodged. The woman looked at Naruto's nodachi which in turn was positioned mere inches in front of her jugular, leaving her no other alternative then to yield. Naruto, then, returned his swords to the holster and offered a hand for Yuugao to get up to which she accepted.

"Quite impressive that last move, what was it?" - Asked Yuugao as she went to grab her ninjato.

"Fuuton chakra has several uses once the ninja learns to control it. I happen to release it from a certain tenketsu which will provide enough propulsion for me to charge against my enemies or even evade an attack that would surely hit. It's extremely taxing from the chakra control necessary, but the results are worth it." - Explained Naruto as he heard Yuugao taking her sword and placing it back inside the holster.

"I'll be sure to remember that the next time we spar. Now, though, it seems I must present myself at the Anbu, Naruto. I'm looking forward for our next fight" - Said Yuugao, earning a nod from Naruto who in turn placed his sword back on the holsters, before seeing Yuugao vanish via shunshin.

Naruto was about to leave the training ground when he sensed a couple of familiar presences.

"Naruto-sensei, how are you doing?" - Shouted Tonari, as he landed on the ground next to his friend Tonari.

"Tonari, Kaito where have you been all this time?" - Asked Naruto.

"Tsunade-sama assigned us a long-term mission. We were supposed to investigate some disturbances near Marsh Country. In the end, though, it revealed to be a group of low level missing-nins causing some sort of havoc. It was kind of boring, but at least we managed to get some training done. Tonari and I sparred at least twice a day and our skills improved a lot. So, words on the street are that you made Jounin, congratulations Naruto-sensei" - Smiled Kaito as he saw Naruto's darker vest, before looking at the smiling blond.

"Yes, I managed to pass in the exams held not so long ago. Hey, what do you both say we grab some lunch, my treat?" - Asked Naruto, no doubt receiving shouts of appraisal from the two Chuunin. Both Tonari and Kaito enjoyed ramen as well, plus the fact that they didn't have the chance to eat the precious noodles from being on the long-term mission.

Along the way, Tonari was admiring Naruto's newly acquired nodachi and also expressing his desire to have a spar against Naruto in Kenjutsu, to which the blond smiled and liked the idea, saying that if neither one of them had any missions, they could spar at any time, to which Hayate's nephew nodded. Within minutes, they arrived at the ramen stand, before placing their orders.

* * *

**===At the west gate===**

A woman was found approaching Konoha's west gate. Her face was similar to that of Tsunade, but her outfit consisted of a black dress, completed by some fishnet clothes on the shoulder area. Her long red hair was enough to attract a few stares from the two Chuunin that were near the gate, performing guard duties. From looks alone, they couldn't see a headband that showed from where she came from, however her belt showed the Kirigakure (Mist Village) insignia, so they focused on the duty at hand.

"Hello there, I wish to have a conference with the Hokage?" - Asked the lady, while looking at the silent Chuunin in front of her not muttering a single word. One of them, being the older, decided to respond.

"Who might you be and what do you wish to discuss with Lady Tsunade-Sama?" - Asked the Chuunin, however instantly two Anbus appeared in front of the lady with hands close to their ninjato.

"What business do you have in Konoha **Kirigakure noAisuotome **(ice maiden)" - Said one of the Anbus. The Chuunin, for their part, wondered about the level of care in which the Anbu were treating the newcomer and wondered about her. They didn't find anything special with her, except the fact that she wasn't fazed in the least by the Anbu's presence. Nevertheless, the name was familiar somehow, but they couldn't place it.

"I prefer to be called by my real name Aisu Keiko, now I really need to speak with the Hokage about a matter, don't worry about me attempting anything, Kirigakure is already deep in our own situation without having to deal with Konoha" – Said Keiko, before seeing the Anbu look at each other, before nodding.

"We'll go talk with Lady Tsunade to see if she authorizes your passage, meanwhile my partner will remain here watching you" – Said the Anbu with the monkey face before he vanished within leaves, leaving the woman and the Anbu along with the two Chuunin that happened to be on a mission to secure the gate. It didn't take long until the other Anbu returned with the proper authorization, before issuing Keiko to follow him towards the Hokage's building. While walking, Keiko was receiving looks by everyone. The reasons though varied, of course. The civilian men all looked with drool on their faces and the civilian women looked at her with disdain (hidden jealousy). The shinobi part of the population had their eyes focused on Keiko for the same reason, although some just couldn't stop staring at the woman's beauty. However for those who knew her from the bingo book, they sure knew to keep their distance and worry in case of any sudden involvement with Mizugakure.

In ten minutes, the group arrived in front of the Hokage's building.

* * *

**===At the Hokage's office===**

After the Anbu left with the authorization, Tsunade became apprehensive. Kirigakure was in a bad situation with their civil war and now the one person who's responsible for maintaining a strong hold against the Mizukage's efforts wants to talk to her. What reason could she have with Konoha? Would she try and persuade the leaf to aid in the battle? All these questions appeared in Tsunade's mind and the truth was that she felt a bit cornered.

Whatever this Keiko girl came to discuss, Tsunade had two answers to choose from, either yes or no. That was the issue, since in both ways, Konoha would get involved in the manner. If she said yes, then she would portray Konoha in a wrong way to the other hidden villages and if she said no, then Kirigakure could come back against the Leaf in the future, once the war is over. Of course, she knew that the second answer would be the best choice, because when push comes to shove, Konoha would be doing nothing wrong.

Tsunade stopped thinking once she saw the woman walking inside her office while escorted by two Anbu shinobi. After studying the newcomer, Tsunade could conclude some positive aspects about Keiko. Her posture demanded respect and the way she walked showed no fear whatsoever. Tsunade knew somewhat about her fame in Kiri as one of the leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, so the situation must be dealt with care.

"Greetings Hokage-sama, I appreciate you taking your time to hear me out" - Said Keiko, before seeing the hokage nod.

"You came a long way Keiko-san. I wonder, though, what do you wish to discuss about" - Asked Tsunade, as she eyed Keiko's smile with a certain level of suspicion.

"As you know Hokage-sama, a civil war was declared in Kirigakure close to five years ago after Momochi Zabuza's failed coup against the Mizukage,. Since then, we've been able to hold ourselves against his troops. What you don't know is that my position is vital to our side's survival." - Explained Keiko, earning a nod from Tsunade who absorbed the information for a moment.

"Words out there suggest that the Mizukage's forces are being reduced and that your side was on the offensive. I'd imagine that, being so important to the cause, you would be close to them so as to lead your men, what are you doing in Konoha?" - Asked Tsunade, earning a nod from Keiko as the time for the proposal finally arose.

"The Yondaime Mizukage is no fool and by now he realized I'm not in Kirigakure. He knows that killing one of the seven would cause a major victory for him, hence why I believe I can't simply walk through Kiri's gates like I do here in Konoha. So Hokage-sama, I came here to hire Konoha for an S ranked escort mission, one of your best jounins to escort me safely to Kirigakure" - Requested Keiko, before studying the Hokage's expression for a moment.

Tsunade couldn't help but be surprised at such a humble request, although she knew never to fully trust someone from another village. Never before had a ninja hired services from another hidden village and Tsunade very well knew that should the mission be successful, Kirigakure would be in great debt with Konoha, hence why she tried to understand why Keiko would place her village in this position.

Also, the lady Hokage was a little bit relieved at the request, since she feared that Keiko would request Konoha's assistance in the war and that would create problem to the village. Tsunade didn't have to say anything before Keiko opened her mouth.

"I also came to negotiate a future alliance between Konoha and Kiri, once we overcome the Mizukage" - Said Keiko, dropping the bomb to Tsunade. The Sannin would bite her nails in anger if she was alone after being cornered just like she feared before.

"Please explain better Keiko-san, because by offering an agreement, you'd be subjecting your village into something that may not be to your advantage. Plus the fact that you don't have a kage's authority to propose such a thing" - Said Tsunade, with her eyes facing Keiko's facial expressions, while trying to understand her reasons or even know if the girl would lie about it.

"That may be true Hokage-sama, I don't in fact have the authority to propose a settlement between hidden villages, however ever since the war began, the village I grew up was transformed into a war zone. People are dying as we speak and when the war is over, I'm afraid that we won't have the needed supply for reconstructing the village, hence why the need for this treaty, however my first request still remains. Before we even consider discussing a treaty, the Mizukage must step down" - Said Keiko, earning a nod from Tsunade who agreed with the mission request.

"I'll grant your request Keiko-san, under one condition. By placing one of my best Jounin on this mission, you must agree to tell me every information deemed necessary for the Jounin to know, in case of an ambush and that consist of information about the Mizukage's army of those he sent to kill you once you arrive in Kirigakure" - Said Tsunade, before waiting for Keiko to agree.

Tsunade's conditions may be counted as bit excessive, since Keiko would need to reveal a village's secret and it constitutes act of treason by doing so, however Tsunade hoped the girl understood Konoha's position in order to send a Jounin to a hostile territory. To her surprise, though, Keiko smiled but now in a affectionate way, demonstrating trust to Tsunade.

"I understand your position on this manner Hokage-sama, and the one who will send to aid me wouldn't carry his or her headband, so as to not reveal the village he belongs. I agree to reveal the information your Jounin needs to know" - Said Keiko, earning a nod from Tsunade who agreed with the terms, before hearing the information.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

After having lunch and talking with Kaito and Tonari, Naruto was left with nothing to do as he was walking casually throughout the village streets. Anko was sent on a mission and wouldn't be home until tomorrow. Aoi's team was also sent on another mission and the Hokage thought best to send Kakashi as well for reinforcement.

So, Naruto was left with nothing to do as he watched the village population conversing with each other without a care in the world. The blond remained walking until he reached the training grounds of the village, filled with ninjas from every rank trying their best to learn new techniques and master the ones they already learned. Amongst them, Naruto recognized a few who performed missions with him and happened to wave their hands in a greeting gesture to which Naruto gladly returned, before walking further down.

Naruto was walking for a while until he saw a familiar team practicing what appeared to be advanced Taijutsu. Gai, Lee, Neji and Tenten divided into groups with Lee fighting Neji and Tenten with Gai. Naruto decided not to interrupt their training so he continued on his way; however he stopped once he heard Lee shouting his name from afar.

Still with his hands on his pocket, Naruto approached the team.

"Greetings everyone, I didn't want to stop your training so I was just passing by" - Said Naruto, but Gai only smiled.

"Nonsense Naruto-kun, someone as youthful as you wouldn't interrupt. It would be interesting, though, to see a display of your abilities. You see, our Tenten here, has been short of a partner for Kenjutsu practice, would you mind stepping in?" - Asked Gai, before seeing Naruto look at the bun haired girl who in turn was smiling.

"I don't mind at all, it also gives me a chance to better improve my sword skills. Weapon of choice, Tenten-san?" - Asked Naruto, before seeing her face frowning in confusion. Instantly, he showed his back and explained that he could either fight with a katana or a nodachi, or even both if she so agreed.

"You can fight with both of them Naruto-san, I happen to focus nowadays on my twin nodachi style" - Smiled Tenten, earning a nod from Naruto as both prepared for the battle by drawing their respective swords from the holsters or in Tenten's case, the big scroll strapped to her waist.

Both were standing in front of each other, while assessing each other's position and body expressions in order to determine any possible actions. Naruto could ascertain that while Tenten wasn't near the level of swordsmanship that Yuugao displayed, she wasn't a pushover. He just feared that just like Yuugao, Tenten would use other attacks in the midst of a Kenjutsu battle, just like before. Meanwhile, the audience was focused on the battle; well at least Neji was with his byakugan looking at Naruto's chakra signature, while Lee and Gai were talking about the reason why no one attacked the other yet.

Neji was studying Naruto's chakra signature in contraction to Tenten's chakra and he found something very interesting about a real Kenjutsu fighter. Tenten's chakra is slightly agitated which is quite normal considering that she will have to use it in this battle, but Naruto's chakra, although Neji could see the extreme amount, was flowing so peacefully, that the Hyuuga couldn't stop wondering which chakra usage would be best for this fight. Gai, on the other hand, looked at Neji's perplexed face and smiled, knowing his student's wonderings.

"Neji, what is on your mind?" – Asked Gai, calling his attention before he turned to face his sensei.

"While Tenten's chakra is agitated as in ready to be used, Naruto's is flowing normally, though. I wonder why? I would imagine that just before a fight, one's chakra would have to be tuned for immediate use when needed" – Said Neji, earning a nod from Gai, as he turned to watch as Naruto and Tenten remained staring at each other.

"That's the way of a true swordsman, Neji. Tenten is proficient at the skills, but she doesn't focus entirely on it, hence why she can't control her chakra the way Naruto does. You said that Tenten's chakra is agitated hence why I believe she'll commit the most dangerous mistake in a sword fight" – Said Gai, before seeing his student's dumbfounded look. "Perhaps, it's best for you to see and draw the conclusions yourselves" – Said Gai as his students turned to see the fight.

Tenten for her part was watching Naruto with nothing akin of understanding it. Her abilities didn't focus much on sword fighting, so she couldn't understand why he didn't attack first or even made any indication of such. The girl was focusing her chakra so much, that waiting to attack was proving to be harmful to her peace of mind and a lone sweat drop fell from her left cheek, landing on one of her swords. The waiting alone was already staggering, but she could very well see that Naruto wasn't suffering at all, in fact if she focused her sight, she could see the blond smiling like nothing was bothering him at all.

Naruto was something of an enigma to everyone, since he decided to change from his usual self a couple of years ago and Tenten was beginning to feel something that she long lost in people from the other gender; respect. Usually, the girl would only respect kunoichi who strived and overcame the obstacles and prejudices that men are stronger than women, but this time, she was actually finding herself admiring Naruto's abilities as a swordfighter. Just by seeing his posture, she already knew the outcome of the fight. However, she wouldn't go down without at least trying.

Focusing chakra in her feet, Tenten charged Naruto with her kodashi ready, but Naruto remained steady only waiting for her to approach within a certain range. Once she was right in front of Naruto preparing her attack, Naruto used his katana to parry both kodashi in the middle, before using his free kodashi inches from Tenten's jugular, making her sweat even more in fear of the possibility of Naruto actually finishing her. She knew that this was practice, but the way Naruto positioned his sword, sent chills to Tenten at the brutal efficiency of the possible kill.

Naruto, however, smiled and placed his swords back at their holsters.

"Good match Tenten-san. That attack of yours was very efficient" – Said Naruto, as Tenten was recovering her breath while looking at the smiling blond.

"How come? You didn't need more than two seconds to beat me" – Retorted Tenten, not sure if Naruto's observation was accurate, but Naruto negated with his head.

"Not all Kenjutsu battles are time demanding, they can end with just one swing of the sword, but that doesn't mean the opponent's skills weren't good. Your stance was from one of high skills and the attack would render anyone useless if you managed to control the flow of your chakra slightly better" – Explained Naruto.

"What do you mean, controlling the flow of my chakra?" – Asked Tenten, highly interested in Naruto's ideas for improvement, a thought that she would laugh at three or four years ago, before Naruto explained.

"In Kenjutsu, the one who attacks first must be able to cover every spot of the body so that the opponent can't strike back and ruin the attack. When you tamper with your chakra before the fight, your muscles become too rigid and tense to be used, hence why you weren't able to attack me effectively. Only when you attack, should you focus on using chakra, not only for more effectiveness but also to store as much as possible to be later used in another situation; you can practice this with Neji, with his byakugan; he can see the flow of your chakra and give you tips on how to control it" – Tutored Naruto, earning a smile and a nod from Tenten in appreciation from the lesson.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and he saw that Gai was giving him thumbs up in appraisal.

"Such youthful explanation Naruto-kun, I expect nothing more from my rival's student" – Shouted Gai, earning a sigh from his students, but Naruto only smiled at the friendly rivalry between Gai and Kakashi-sensei. The blond couldn't help but wonder about the expression 'friendly rivalry' and frown upon remembering that he considered the Uchiha as his rival. Passed waters, Naruto concluded. Sasuke was not the same high skilled shinobi from before and Naruto could even say for sure, that in Konoha they were tons of better skilled ninja who didn't have a huge advantage like the Sharingan. He looked at Neji who, despite having a Doujutsu, didn't grow arrogant and self-centered. The Hyuuga was conversing with Tenten while Lee and Gai were shouting about fire of youth and absurd challenges to one another.

"Hey guys, I have something to do right now, so I must get to it, Tenten-san I appreciate the fight and hope we can have more in the future" – Said Naruto, calling the team's attention before he saw the girl smiling and nodding at him, as well as Gai giving one last thumbs up with the goofy smile on his face. Neji said his goodbye as well and Naruto turned to leave the training grounds. He didn't have an appointment per se, it was just that he found that a visit to an old friend was a must and the time couldn't be more perfect.

* * *

**===At the Academy===**

Umino Iruka looked at the next crop of shinobi wannabes as they left school together with their parents. It was a satisfying job, indeed, he reasoned. Of course, they were times the man missed the missions rush, but when he saw the results of his teaching, his heart was filled with joy and the mission urge disappears without a trace. Iruka, then, turned to head back to class with a smile on his face, since he needed to gather some documents. However when he reached his classroom, he was surprised with a much amusing sight.

There he was sitting in the last chair while looking at the window sent wonderful memories to the Chuunin teacher. Well, the memories were filled with Iruka reprimanding him from making a scene in class, but they were like brothers.

"I remember that you always used to look outside when my class bored you Naruto" – Said Iruka, earning Naruto's attention as he turned to meet his old teacher with a smile on his face.

"Yes, I remember that as well, maybe if I paid more attention to it, besides goofing off, I would have improved my skills earlier. How was I supposed to know, though, that paying attention to your bored explanations would help me?" – Said Naruto, as he looked up in wonder, before hearing a warm laughter coming from Iruka.

"I guess, it all worked out well despite it all. It's good to see you Naruto. At least one of my students comes to visit me every now and then. Care for a walk, I was heading for the Hokage to drop some papers and then we can have some tea and talk?" – Invited Iruka, before seeing Naruto nod and get up from the chair, before joining Iruka for his walk.

"You know, I'd believe that at least another one would be visiting you from time to time. I know Shikamaru enjoyed your classes, even though he spent half of it sleeping" – Said Naruto as the two walked away from the academy, heading towards the Hokage tower.

"Indeed, Shikamaru spoke to me once when he picked up his cousin from the academy and Shino did too, but coming here without need to, only you so far" – Said Iruka as he smiled to Naruto in appraisal. "Sometimes, I wonder if by doing what I do, the students remembers me, but at least I get to see their enthusiastic faces once they manage to graduate and bet set up for a Jounin sensei. Speaking of which, how is your life now that you attained the rank?" – Asked Iruka, before Naruto turned his neck to face Iruka.

"It's been good so far, I've had the opportunity to work with some outstanding shinobi and even became friends with a few. I managed to improve my skills under Kakashi and Aoi-sensei and have the heart of a lovely yet sadistic kunoichi, live is going well so far, yes" – Said Naruto, earning a smile from Iruka.

"On top of that, rumor has it that you are on your way to become one of Konoha's elite Jounin, I think congratulations are in order" – Said Iruka, as he realized that his destination was close.

"I wouldn't say elite, I've only just became a Jounin. You're talking as if I'm close to rival Kakashi-sensei or Gai-sensei's skills, its bit exaggerating" – Smiled Naruto, since modesty was a characteristic that he shared and Iruka frowned at that.

"It's not good to underestimate yourself Naruto, sure Kakashi and Gai are on a level superior to yours, but they have close to ten years more of experience than you, I know they agree with me when I say that you may surpass them in maybe a year or two. Now, wait right here, I'll just deliver these papers and be right back" – Said Iruka, to which Naruto nodded and found a bench to sit on while he waited for his sensei. He bended one leg on top of the other as he watched the population roaming freely around the streets; however his eyes landed on someone he actually didn't want to meet. It's not that Naruto loathed this person or anything, but ever since that faithful day, the last drop of friendship ended between Naruto and Sakura.

Sakura for her part eyed the blond with a sad expression. She remembered a mission she went with him a couple of days ago when he had to escort her to a village to attend a very sick civilian who was being targeted by some thugs. On the way, neither of them said a word to the other, outside of the ones regarding the mission at hand. Sakura remembered the good old days when Team 7 was united and couldn't help but loath the path that the team followed. Sasuke was arrested for defecting the village and Naruto choose to part ways. In the end, the team was disbanded and each went to separate functions. Sakura got to spend more time at the hospital and Naruto became a Jounin doing A and B ranked missions for the village with other shinobi.

Naruto, she reasoned, lost that goofy smile of his ever since she used him to vent her frustrations about not being able to return Sasuke to the village and now Sakura knew that Naruto went from a teammate/friend to a stranger. With nothing to say, Sakura continued her path, never bothering to look back, since she knew that Naruto wouldn't even bother talking to her. However, on pure impulse, she turned to see if he was watching her back, just to be disappointed once more as she saw the blond leaving with Iruka-sensei right next to him.

Back to Naruto, he was conversing with Iruka as they reached a restaurant to get some tea.

"So what happened between you and Sakura?" – Asked Iruka with a serious tone, but inside worried that Naruto didn't even look down or even displayed one slightest sign of sadness.

"Long story short, we went on a mission to encounter the Uchiha and try to bring him back. We fought against Orochimaru and he escaped, we followed him to their hideout before we found Sasuke. We couldn't do anything and in the end, he escaped. On our way back, Sakura decided to blame the mission failure on me. Since then, I no longer speak with her, nor should I ever, outside of missions of course" – Explained Naruto as he had another zip of his tea. Iruka, though, fixed his gaze at the blond, but Naruto didn't finish. "I guess she thought that I would accept the blame and that she could use me as punching bag to vent her frustrations on.

"It shouldn't be like this, although from your story, she did have some fault. Still, at least you're professional enough to do a couple of missions with her, as I heard" – Said Iruka as he zipped some tea and then looked at Naruto. "So you intend not to speak to her or what? After all, you do share some level of history" – Asked Iruka.

"One considerably short history at that; we were part of the same Genin team for no more than a year after I left with Jiraiya for the training trip. After that, I did two missions with Sakura and you know the rest. I'm not saying that I'm angry at her or something like that, it's just that whatever bond we shared, now vanished" – Explained Naruto, earning a nod from Iruka who in turn finished his cup of tea.

"I see, well sometimes it happens that the team falls apart, in time everything will fall into place and both of you will lead your separate lives, now tell me about Anko, how is going between you two?" – Asked Iruka before seeing that smile on Naruto's face as he began explaining.

* * *

**===At the Hokage's office===**

The sun was quickly setting down and the sky was already displaying that orange hue. Tsunade was deep in thought after Keiko told her everything that whoever performs the mission must know.

"As soon as you step foot outside of Konoha, your enemies will see and try to kill you and if you're right, then you'd be outnumbered severely. You'd need someone with high chakra capacity and experienced on fighting against multiple opponents at once. I can tell you right now, that not many in Konoha manage such a feat on their own. We have a teamwork policy, better functioning as a team than individually." – Wondered Tsunade out loud, while Keiko was nodding about everything. "Well, Keiko-san it won't do any good to travel at night, so I'll advise you to rent a hotel room and then come back here tomorrow morning to know the jounin that will be escorting you.

"You're right; I'll leave you be, then Hokage-sama. I appreciate what Konoha is doing for Kiri and please note that should our side wins the war, Kiri will be in debt with Konoha" – Said Keiko as she followed the two Anbu to a hotel, thus leaving Tsunade alone to think as she looked outside her office window. Instantly, a list of Jounin appeared in her mind, but none of those fit the criteria necessary for the mission to Kiri. Kakashi would be one, but he was sent on a mission with Aoi's Genin team and wouldn't be back for at least another week. Gai was restricted to doing team missions since he's more of a Taijutsu specialist and Asuma just didn't have the necessary chakra to face the Mizukage's forces. Tsunade knew only one person that matched the criteria, although she surely didn't want to choose him. As much of a chakra powerhouse, he also had experience with fighting multiple boogies.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

After saying goodbye to Iruka, Naruto headed to his apartment to end the night. He was somewhat tired from the heavy training in the morning and the fight against Yuugao. He, then, took off his clothes and went for a quick hot shower in order to relax his muscles. The hot water would cleanse every strain he accumulated today and also the feeling of the hot water hitting the skin was something that everyone enjoyed after a long day.

Ten minutes later, Naruto put on some sleeping clothes and settled on his bed as he grabbed one of the books he borrowed from the library. It consisted of an introduction to fire Ninjutsu and even had an explanation aimed at those with a different affinity. Naruto already learned that most fire jutsu begin inside the ninja's lungs and then exhaled the heated air to form the jutsu; however wind jutsu were similar, so Naruto just couldn't focus fire chakra inside his lungs, instead only getting wind techniques. It was frustrating for Naruto that he wasn't able to perform fire techniques.

The blond was reading a chapter of the book when suddenly he heard a voice inside his mind. _If fire is what you wish, then its fire you'll get. _When the blond realized, he was standing in front of the gigantic creature in all its glory, instead of just the big eyes and teeth. "It's been some time since we've spoken kyuubi-teme, but since today was just about meeting old acquaintances, maybe it would be a great idea to make a visit and what a lovely home you have here, if I can say so myself" – Joked Naruto, before hearing a snort from the fox in response.

"**So it seems that my jailor does not fear my presence, like the little brat from before. It's been a long time since you asked for my help, now you finally realized that you're nothing without me and came once again" **– Laughed Kyuubi, but he saw that Naruto wasn't fazed at all.

"Actually, I didn't come here to ask for help, other than wanting to know about a way for me to be able to use fire techniques in battle without me ending up using Fuuton jutsus instead" – Explained Naruto, before seeing the fox deep in thought.

"**The reason is pretty simple, brat. Fire and Wind are dead opposites, to learn both are almost impossible. However, you have an advantage that other doesn't; me. By using my chakra, you can use my affinity which is of course, Katon. However, I can't guarantee you'll be able to use both at the same time, but at least you'll be able to complete four elements instead of just three" **– Said Kyuubi. "**Nevertheless, I know how stubborn you are when asking for my help, so I'll try and explain how you can use fire jutsu. Since you already learn the theory behind it, the only step left is to learn how to ignite the chakra inside your lungs. Hand seals are able to do that, you must end the sequence with the tiger seal, that is akin to the fire element, this seal is directly responsible for igniting the chakra inside your lungs, enabling you to do fire techniques. However, it will demand a lot of your chakra for the simplest techniques, since you don't possess the affinity and you don't wish to use mine" – **Explained Kyuubi, earning a nod from Naruto as he remembered reading this on the book's introduction pages.

And so, Naruto began to practice a fire technique called **Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu) under the tutelage of the Fire Demon Lord, while sleeping in the real world.

* * *

**===The next day===**

Nine o'clock in the morning and the alarm went crazy on Naruto's ear. The blond practically slammed the snooze button and got up instantly as his eyes were just adjusting to the sunlight. Images of the gigantic fireball being exhaled from his mouth brought a smile on his face and he really thought about thanking the damn furball for aiding him in discovering what was missing in his attempts. Naruto felt a bit sheepish about not discovering that the whole problem was caused by a wrong choice of hand seals, a mistake that a Jounin level ninja must never do.

As Naruto got up, a sudden noise alerted him as it came from the kitchen. Grabbing his kodashi, Naruto approached the door when he opened it slightly to see who was inside his apartment. He smiled, though, when he saw his girlfriend with only fishnet clothing making what appeared to be some eggs.

"Morning Naruto-kun, I returned yesterday but you're already asleep, I didn't want to wake you up" – Said Anko as Naruto hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek with affection, earning giggling from the woman who in turn was now used to being loved by someone.

"So how was the mission?" – Asked Naruto as he grabbed two plates from the armoire as well as products at the refrigerator to make some coffee and milk.

"Nothing special really, I was sent to investigate some disturbances, but it turned out there was just some thugs causing trouble. Dealt with them quickly and came home. So, how was your day yesterday?" – Asked Anko as she placed the fried eggs on Naruto's place, before sitting on the other chair, before fixing her some coffee and milk.

"Training most of the time, I've got to spar with Yuugao and met both Tonari and Kaito, they were a part of my Genin team to attempt the Chuunin exams. Afterwards, I found team Gai and stayed with them a little bit, ending the day visiting Iruka-sensei and having some tea with him. Ah, I have great news. Remember the trouble I was having with Katon Ninjutsu" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Anko issuing him to continue. "I feel asleep yesterday and ended up in the kyuubi's cage. In the end, he was the one who pointed out why I wasn't able to do the technique, which was using the tiger seal at the end of the jutsu" – Explained Naruto while scratching his head in embarrassment upon seeing Anko lifting an eyebrow, like she wasn't believing that this was the reason.

"Well, then, you already know four elements then, congrats indeed. How many techniques you know using fire?" – Asked Anko as she was eating her egg.

"One actually, the grand fireball technique was all I managed to learn, it takes too much chakra taxing to do it, so I'll just stick to this technique. After all, I prefer using Fuuton and Doton techniques in battle, so Katon will serve as a backup plan…" – Said Naruto, but was interrupted when he heard someone knocking on his door. Upon opening it, he saw an Anbu outside, before taking a message scroll from Tsunade. After grabbing, the Anbu vanished and Naruto returned inside while looking at the message.

"What is it?" – Asked Anko, while Naruto was reading the message.

"It appears that the Hokage wishes to see me in an hour, wonder why, though?" – Asked Naruto as he placed the message on the table.

"A mission, maybe; you're complaining that you weren't able to get an exciting mission. Tsunade-sama could be sending you in one" – Reasoned Anko, earning a nod from Naruto.

"I guess you're right, anyway I must get ready then. Will you accompany me to the shower Anko-chan? It's been a while since I felt your lovely skin and…."- Said Naruto, but stopped once Anko suddenly kissed him passionately for a moment.

"Say no more Naruto-kun, Also if by chance, your mission takes too long, we won't be able to have our time" – Said Anko as she stripped bare naked and used a sexy voice for Naruto to join her and wash her back.

* * *

**===At the Hokage's office===**

An hour later, both Tsunade and Keiko were inside the Hokage's office as Tsunade was explaining to the Kiri kunoichi about the shinobi who will be escorting her back home.

"I assure you Keiko-san; I selected a Jounin that fits the category you searched for. He is well-versed in fighting multiple enemies and also possesses very high chakra reserves, he should be arriving anytime now" – Said Tsunade, earning a nod from Keiko, when suddenly both of them heard someone knocking on the door, before Tsunade smiled and gave the authorization.

"Greetings Hokage-sama, you reached for me" – Said Naruto as he entered the office and closed the door. However, Naruto saw another person inside as well as the Kiri insignia strapped on her belt.

"**Konoha no Kiroi Senko** (Yellow Flash)?"- Stuttered Keiko, earning surprised looks from Naruto for a while, before he smiled, but it was Tsunade who laughed and corrected the Kiri kunoichi.

"No Keiko-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto, the Yondaime Hokage died a long time ago, although Naruto sure has a very uncanny resemblance to the Yellow Flash, he's not him" – Said Tsunade, before seeing Keiko nod at her explanation. She, then, turned to Naruto for the mission explanation.

"Naruto, this is Aisu Keiko, in other words **Kirigakure no Aisuotome. **She is hiring us for an escort mission to her house in Mist Village and you were selected to escort her back. This is S ranked" – Said Tsunade as she began explaining the mission to Naruto, who was nodding with his head, but inside, Naruto was wondering about the mission. As a Jounin, Naruto was required to understand about other villages and he damn well knew that Kirigakure was locked itself in a civil war. Also, the name Aisuotome was familiar as Naruto was studying about the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and their influence in Kirigakure.

The blond couldn't help but snort at the situation. However, he found himself remembering that he wished for a tougher mission yesterday, and now he got one which appeared to be quite suicidal. Oh the irony of the situation, he mused as Tsunade finished explaining the situation and scheduling the mission beginning in half an hour, since Naruto needed to purchase some warm clothes because of Kiri's cold temperature and also rid himself of anything relating himself with Konoha, which meant his vest and hitai-ate.

* * *

_**AN: That's it for the chapter. Tell me what you all think, this new arc of Naruto will involve the end of the Kirigakure's era of tyranny by the Yondaime Mizukage. However, great danger and lots of action awaits our hero and Keiko on the way back to Kirigakure. **__**Let's see how the blond fairs against Kiri's elite. **_


	22. Journey to the Mist Part I

**

* * *

****Chapter 22 – Journey to the Mist ****Part I**

**Beta: Dreetje**

* * *

It's been only a couple of minutes since Naruto left the Hokage's office with the condition of meeting the beautiful yet deadly Ice Maiden of Kirigakure in half an hour at the west gate. Now, jumping between rooftops towards his house, he couldn't help but wonder about the mission he was about to undertake.

The Hokage surely labeled it as an S ranked mission, but Naruto could easily create a higher category for it. Protecting a shinobi who happens to be the a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and also one of the idealists behind the civil war against the Yondaime Mizukage was perhaps one of those suicidal mission he once heard people talking about. He was even supposed to lose every single piece of clothing that would connect him with the Hidden Village in the Leaves, meaning that should something happens to him, Tsunade wouldn't be able to do anything to help, since it was like he wasn't even there in the first place.

Some irony, he thought. For some time, he pledged for a more difficult mission and now Tsunade sent him in the middle of a frickin' war zone for cry's sake. Nevertheless, while he couldn't be linked to the village, it also meant that he wouldn't need to hold back against the Kiri shinobi that would certainly attack them. With time and as a jounin, Naruto learned that were several repercussions about attacking an enemy shinobi even if it was in pure self defense as other villages could find out and come to the Hokage demanding some actions to rectify, so seeing as for this mission, no one would affiliate him with the Hidden Village in the Leaves, he could very well unleash Kyuubi on them, without worrying that Kirigakure would come to Konoha for revenge; not that he would unleash the demon per se, but it was just his train of thought on how far he could go. Naruto was starting to enjoy this side of thinking, until someone considered communicating with him.

"**I like this train of thought brat, you can kill as much as you want and you won't need to worry about repercussions. You could considering using my power and rip their guts or even play with them for a while"** - Said Kyuubi while in his head, before Naruto sighed in dismay. He knew about the risks of opening a sort of communication link between the fox and by now was regretting his decision.

"_You must think I'm stupid or something aren't you furball? Now, just because you said so, I'm doing the exact opposite, just to piss you off. It's quite entertaining to do so, you know. I'm really regretting the decision of letting you talk to me every time" _- Thought Naruto which in turn served as a reply for the fox, who in turn only gave that sadistic laugh of his.

"**I can't help it you know; after all I'm a demon. I kind of have to talk like this, you know the drill" - **Said Kyuubi, with enough sarcasm that Naruto snorted.

"_Yeah, like you don't enjoy hearing a frightened human screaming or the sound of flesh being ripped apart. Wait a minute, why am I bothering to prolong this conversation with you?" - _Retorted Naruto, before he focuses on the outside world for a change as he arrived at his apartment.

Upon getting inside, he noticed that Anko wasn't anywhere, so he guessed she was at the Anbu Torture Facilities. He really needed to stop talking to Kyuubi from fear of being paranoid thinking that people are calling him when actually it's just the voice inside his mind. Opening up his closet, he picked some new clothes he purchased a while ago when accompanying his girlfriend for some shopping. It consisted of black cargo paints, a gray t-shirt and a black jounin style vest. He, then, gathered an empty scroll and used it to keep his Konoha Hitai-ate just in case, before leaving the place.

Thinking about summoning a kage bunshin to tell Anko of his mission, he thought against it since he needed to conserve as much chakra as possible for the mission. So, since he had fifteen minutes left to meet Keiko, he went to the Anbu headquarters himself to tell Anko of his mission.

* * *

**===At the gates===**

A couple minutes later, after arriving a few meters from the west gate, Naruto waited for a while before he saw the one he was bound to protect appearing in the horizon. While looking, Naruto remembered Anko's not so thrilled reaction about her boyfriend escorting someone as beautiful as this Keiko person. If Naruto didn't know better, he'd say that Anko was jealous; an emotion that, until now, he didn't think it was ever applied to his girlfriend. Naruto had to diverge from his wondering when Keiko approached him with a smile on her face.

"Greetings Naruto-san, I can see you already changed your Jounin clothes. I can see you have at least some sort of fashion sense. It's not very common for men to know about this sort of things, specially not shinobi" - Said Keiko to which Naruto considered the words Anko and jealousy, while wondering if this lady made a move on him by saying he looked good.

He wondered if he should just cut her attempt by saying he had a girlfriend and he considered it was the right thing to do. However, seeing as the lady didn't openly came on to him, he would hold until she did so, however his suspicious mind alerted him to this possibility.

"Well, thanks Keiko-san. I was worried I'd have to shop before our mission, but I found these clothes at my house. Now, how do you propose we proceed with this? As I recall, you did say you didn't need full protection from the Mizukage's forces" - Asked Naruto to which Keiko nodded, even though she expected him to flush because of her commentary, but sadly for her, he didn't. Actually, ever since she saw his looks as in similar with the Yondaime to whom she had a crush for, some old feelings returned. However, the most important thing right now was completing the mission, not thinking about young girl fantasies.

"I did mention that. The Mizukage's forces don't rely much on quality, rather on quantity. If we were to fight them individually, it would be more like jounins fighting chunnin, in our case anyway. So, we are to precede this escort mission as a team. We both will fight, but I'll ask you that while fighting, you keep an eye on me in case they overwhelm me with numbers. I'll do likewise of course, but from the info Tsunade-sama gave, you're more fitted for fighting multiple opponents" - Explained Keiko.

"That's okay with me, actually, Keiko-san. Oh and one more thing, sometime ago, I thought some missing-nins from Kiri who happened to use poisons in their weapons; should I be expecting such a thing? It wouldn't do well for us if one of us gets positioned" – Asked Naruto, though Keiko had the decency to look faulted, but responded anyway.

"Actually, drenching weapons in poison happens to be Kiri's specialty. I'd say it's wise to expect such a thing" – Smiled Keiko at the innocence behind the question.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to ask beforehand, right? After all, I must know everything there is to expect in this mission, because one small mishap and we're done. Now, seeing as we have a day ahead of us for travelling, we should get going" – Said Naruto, before he began his path away from the village with Keiko shortly behind him as they passed the village gates. Keiko gave the idea of walking when not in a clearing in order to avoid traps to which Naruto nodded and followed suit. He wasn't the cautious kind of shinobi, but he was also far from being careless as Kakashi-sensei drilled it in his head to be always aware for traps.

However, no sooner than five miles towards Kiri's direction and both Naruto and Keiko saw what appeared to be four puddle of water in front of them. Keiko frowned her eyebrows seeing that they were waiting for her to leave Konoha, but Naruto couldn't help but smile at the memory of a few years back. _Damn, those Kiri-nins have no originalities at all, the same trap as last time. _Nevertheless, just like before, Naruto and Keiko just passed through the four puddles of water when suddenly where once were water, now stood four Kiri-nins who quickly threw shurikens at the pair as in wanting to catch them off-guard.

Perceiving movement, Naruto and Keiko vanished using chakra to improve speed, before appearing right behind the Kiri-nins. Naruto unleashed his katana and did quite a number of two of them, while Keiko took a stylized kodashi apparently hidden in her kimono, before doing the very same thing as Naruto did by killing the left two with a sharp blow to their necks. After placing the kodashi back in its hidden holster, Keiko saw Naruto do a swing of his katana towards the ground, before the blood that was lodged on the steel now rested on the ground. As he placed it in its holster, he looked at Keiko.

"Would I be wrong to assume that they were genins?" – Asked Naruto but just for confirmation.

"Actually, they were chunnins, believe it or not. The Yondaime Mizukage does not care for skills, so Kiri has lowered their chunnin standards to knowing the bare essentials of suiton manipulation and knowledge of weapons. The jounins, though, are not to be taken lightly. Very easy to become a chunnin in Kiri, but to be a jounin, it takes skills. Even so, these four were the smallest group, Naruto. I wouldn't be surprised if they attacked us with ten or fifteen shinobis. The hokage assured me you have the skills to back that off, are you sure you want to continue?" – Asked Keiko, showing some slack of confidence in the blond's skills, but while she thought Naruto would display a look of uncertainty, he looked the opposite if his smile was any indication.

"Don't worry about me Keiko-san; I know how strong is your village's jounin. Just so you know, I was once on a mission near here towards Wave Country when one of your Swordsmen of the Mist attacked my team. You do remember a guy named Momochi Zabuza, don't you?" – Said Naruto, but didn't stop even though the face of realization hit Keiko head on. "I remember his skills well enough to ascertain that no jounin from Kiri could top Zabuza, but another member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and they are on your side"

Keiko didn't respond, not that she needed to, after what Naruto explained. So, she just walked further down the path towards her home village with Naruto close in toll. Even though the skills weren't, their numbers could set even a sannin on edge and Keiko made sure that Naruto understood the seriousness of the situation before they proceeded. Suddenly, Naruto's reaction proved to be better than Keiko as a horde of kunais suddenly blocked the sunlight for a second and lodged where the two would be going. If the woman was surprised, she didn't show it, but the speed in which Naruto reacted was unheard of.

When Naruto and Keiko got up to face the enemies, they were surprised to see ten Kiri-nins standing in front of them with a smug look on their faces, seeing as they were in more numbers.

"Hello there Keiko-sama, it's such a pity you had to leave from Ao-senpai's protection, if you choose to remain, you'd live longer. Now, I believe your time is up" – Said one of the members, though his name was a mystery to the woman.

"I don't need his protection to deal with pathetic goons like you" – Said Keiko out loud, but she whispered, then, to Naruto. "Naruto, prepare one of your wide-scale attacks, they will attack us at the same time" – Whispered Keiko, to which Naruto nodded and closed his eyes with a smile, before opening and beginning a large and fast sequence of hand seals, before gathering as much air as he could within his lungs.

_**Fuuton Daitoppa **(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu)_

The Kiri-nins were surprised upon seeing the enormous gust of wind approaching them fast and a few were sent flying, of course being rather inexperienced, but five or six managed to focus chakra on their feet and escape the technique. As they unleashed their kodashis, Naruto took his katana and kodashi this time while Keiko took her sword as well.

"Didn't know you are a fuuton specialist, the Hokage was right about you" – Said Keiko as she fell into a battle stance. Naruto for his time smiled and turned to watch her.

"You don't know the half of it, but after this fight, we'll have to take a break. We can't keep fighting until we reach Kiri" – Stated Naruto, earning a nod from Keiko, before the woman disappeared, charging the enemy with her sword, before parrying it with one of their members, while Naruto engaged two in combat. Keiko managed to evade one attack and manage to land a killing blow at the man's chest, before jumping on to the next, but had to dodge due to the man just finishing a hand seals sequence, before placing his hand near his mouth for the technique _**Suiton Mizu Dangan **(Water Release: Water Bullets Jutsu)._

The woman's agility proved too much for the Kiri-nin to land one hit, so he ended the technique, but just as he was about to charge against her, his neck met the end of Naruto's katana, who afterwards, evaded a rather weak _**Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu (**Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu)_ that was aimed towards his torso. Once he managed to see his attackers, Naruto focused wind chakra to his feet and charged against the surprised shinobi, who didn't have the speed necessary to react in time, before Naruto sliced their throats. Keiko was impressed, but focused on the remaining three opponents in front of her, before they charged against her with the intent of slicing her in pieces.

Immediately jumping through hand signs, she then smashed her hands on the ground while whispering _**Hyoton Touketsu Kangoku **(Ice Release: Frozen Prison Jutsu)_. Suddenly, from her very hands, the ground was suddenly transformed to ice as it travelled towards the surprised enemy, who upon impact, became trapped inside the frozen prison technique. Keiko was so engrossed in her success, though, that she didn't consider those who were sent flying from Naruto's technique before and when she turned, she was surprised to see all of them almost on the verge of thrusting their swords on her. However, her instincts demanded her to just jump to the air and so she did, before she suddenly felt what appeared to be a blast of concentrated wind that passed only inches from her feet, but the three kiri-nins weren't so lucky as they were hit dead on by the technique, before the cutting winds made some nasty damage to the Kiri-nins, before sending them to unconsciousness.

"Are you okay?" – Asked Naruto as he watched the war zone in front of them.

"Yeah, got cocky there for a second because of a new technique of mine; thanks for saving me" – Smiled Keiko, earning a nod from Naruto, before he pointed to a cave nearby as they went inside to recuperate from the heavy strain of engagement.

Once inside, Naruto set a few traps on the entrance that would certainly kill anyone who dare enter. They needed a little rest for the heavy usage of chakra and since Keiko was in no hurry to leave, they could rest as long as they want. Also, Keiko said that the others were miles away from their destination as this happens to be one of the mist village's strategies; let the enemy come to them, not the other way around.

Once they were safe inside the cave, the sudden battle rush left them and by now Keiko was feeling the after effects of using so much chakra in a short time. However, Naruto was not the least bit wilded, simply because of his huge chakra reserves and his common training routine that kept him busy for a lot of time, using chakra.

"When you said the Mizukage wanted you dead, I thought you were exaggerating. You must possess a great level of threat to him to send such a high contingent just to kill one person" - Said Naruto as he saw Keiko polishing her sword with worry clearly written on her face.

"Killing one of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist represents a huge blow on our side and the Mizukage is prepared to do anything for that to happen. Glad I stopped in Konoha, otherwise I'd be dead for sure. One bad aspect from kenjutsu is fighting against a crowd of enemies. I was impressed, though, about the last technique you used. What was it?" - Asked Keiko to which Naruto smiled.

"_**Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **(Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu)_ is the technique's name and it happens to be one of my creations. Normally, a tornado spins vertically, but I managed to make it spin horizontally as well as send it towards any direction I wish. Also, should need arise, I can concentrate and direct the tornado after it's released, changing directions left and right, up and down" - Explained Naruto, earning a nod from Keiko as she finished treating her sword, before placing it inside the hidden holster.

Naruto, though, remembered the technique the woman used and frowned at the memory of a long lost one to whom he considered a friend, even if they've only met for a week. He wondered if by chance, Keiko and Haku were related since both of them were from Kirigakure.

"Say Keiko-san, I noticed that you used hyoton techniques back then and I was wondering about something" - Said Naruto, earning the woman's attention, before he continued. "During that mission to Wave Country I mentioned before, my team faced one whose abilities were identical, but said that he was the last of his clan in Kirigakure. Would you be related to him? His name was Haku" - Asked Naruto, but the only word Keiko managed to hear was the name Haku.

Instantly, her heart ached from the pain of remembering the bloody incident that happened because of that faithful day as she explained to the blond.

"Close to ten years ago, the Yondaime Mizukage issued a rule to kill anyone that possessed a bloodline. His reasons at the time, or rather what he explained to the council, were that the village shouldn't rely on those with special abilities, but what people didn't know or didn't feel like pressuring the Yondaime was that the man was actually afraid of them overpowering him in the future. As to your question, yes I was related to little Haku. Actually, I was his mother's sister. Do you know what happened?" - Asked Keiko, to which Naruto nodded and explained what he heard from the horse's mouth.

"Zabuza took him just moments before leaving Kirigakure and he was the one my team faced up against in Wave. Although we were enemies at the time, Haku became a friend of mine, by the bond we shared. Haku told me one time that he managed to awoke his ice bloodline and went to show it to his mother. His father, though, figured out and connected the dots that his mother had the same ability, so he killed her and would've killed Haku, but he ended up killing his father in self defense" - Reported Naruto, earning a nod from Keiko as she continued.

"At the time, I was a rookie under one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist called Ao and on the way to become a member in the future. When I arrived to visit my nephew, I saw my sister all bloodied and traces of ice chakra in my brother-in-law, to whom I wished to slaughter when I saw my sister there lying dead. Since then, I swore for revenge at the one responsible for this. Momochi Zabuza's coup d'état showed to the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, the loyal ones at least, that something was needed to be done in order to ensure Kirigakure's survival and that meant overthrowing the Yondaime" - Explained Keiko with a lost look, but Naruto didn't interrupt, not even a sound, he just stood there paying attention.

"When I met your nephew, he told me his story, but not once did I saw tears falling from the fake hunter-nin make he wore; but while no actual tears fell, I could see that he was suffering inside. Zabuza, at the time, drilled inside his mind that he was just a tool for him to use, but in the end, minutes after dying, Zabuza showed his true colors and asked to be buried side by side with Haku, because he felt that Haku was the son the Demon of the Mist never had" - Said Naruto, earning a smile from Keiko.

After then, silence ruled the conversation until Keiko remembered that Naruto said he shared a similar bond with Haku.

"You once said you had a bond with my nephew, what happened?" - Asked Keiko, before seeing the sudden change of look on his face. When she met him, she knew him to be rather young to be a jounin. Also his behavior, even in the midst of a fight, didn't falter as the ever going smile was still present. However, this Naruto was different, she could tell. Life or Death situations can change everyone, she reasoned and for Naruto to be like this, it meant that he must have experienced some heavily traumatized event that produced a scar on his mind.

"I'm sorry Keiko-san, but I don't want to talk about it. I know you shared your past with me and that takes courage, but what happened with me is not something worth telling nor should be ever told. The only one who could understand what I've been through is one who shared a similar fate" - Said Naruto to which Keiko frowned, but didn't pressure it further.

"I won't pressure you into telling Naruto, but I must say you sparked my curiosity. I want to know more about it, but my presence is needed in Kirigakure as fast as possible. So, we need to be going" - Said Keiko before getting up, followed by Naruto who nodded, even though he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of telling her about his inmate. After leaving the cave, though, they were surprised to see two Kiri-nins dead with a great number of kunais lodged on their bodies.

"Nice to know you have knowledge of traps, Naruto. But from here on out, expect a higher level of shinobi" - Said Keiko to which Naruto nodded as they stood in a clearing, before they started running for quite a while, before stopping as three foes appeared in front of them.

"Naruto, they are jounins, I can tell from their posture. Be careful" - Said Keiko as she began a set number of hand seals for _**Suiton Mizurappa **(Water Release: Violent Water Wave Jutsu)_, before she threw a condensed beam of bubbles towards the enemy.

Seeing the incoming attack, the enemies scattered and one landed in front of Keiko while the other two landed in front of Naruto, until one of them unleashed a nodashi from within a large holster strapped on his back, forcing Naruto to use his katana on this one. Defending against such a big sword with a kodashi was like wanting for it to shatter and kill him. Suddenly the one with the nodashi attacked him head on with a vertical strike, leaving Naruto no other option but to position his katana horizontally in order to defend the strike, but Naruto wasn't prepared for the strength behind the technique as he bended his knees for further traction.

Forcing some chakra to his muscles, he managed to overcome the strength and shove the enemy forward, before landing a heavy kick to the man's chest, thus sending him flying.

Focusing on the other enemy, Naruto suddenly saw a couple of shurikens coming his way, leaving him no time do dodge, hence why he made a couple of hand seals for** _Fuuton Kaze no Tate _**_(Wind Release: Wind Shield Jutsu)_, before a curtain of wind formed around him, thus stopping the projectiles attack. Naruto then did a back-flip as he saw the other enemy reaching up in front of him with his sword ready. A kenjutsu user could tell how skilled his opponent by observing his position in battle and Naruto very well knew that the man with the nodashi was probably a jounin level shinobi.

"Say stranger, why are you helping her? You don't strike me as one of the Seven Swordsmen nor are you a Kiri-nin" – Asked the man, before he saw Naruto smile at the man's pathetic attempt of finding out the blond's intentions and eventually learn of his identity.

"I don't know what's most stupid, you actually asking me this sort of thing or actually hoping I'd answer. My reasons are my own, that's all you needed to know" – Said Naruto, before he suddenly extended his hand while focusing on a rather famous technique, before he shoved the swirling ball right at the speaking man's chest. The Rasengan was suddenly enlarged and engulfed his entire body, before sending him flying towards a couple of trees. Naruto really doubted the man could survive the Rasengan, since until now, the only one that managed to do so was Kabuto and by that time, Naruto's rasengan was tiny in comparison to this one.

However, the man's partner didn't budge and attacked Naruto head on, not even bothering to see if his partner was okay. He came hoping to deliver several punches and kicks on Naruto, but the blond dodged them all with ease, while finding the right time to just place his katana back at its holster and fight the man hand to hand and of course, with a good usage of ninjutsu. Eventually, Naruto managed to land a uppercut on his opponent's chin, thus gaining the opportunity to place his katana back at the holster and even focus on a light version of the Daitoppa technique only to send his enemy a couple distance away from him, as he landed a few meters on his feet, from using the momentum.

Nevertheless, Naruto didn't stop as this time his hand seals sequence involved the snake hand sign, so it was no longer a fuuton technique.

_**Doton Supaiku Ouchi** (Earth Release: Spiked Pit Jutsu)_

By slamming his hands on the ground, the place where his enemy was standing suddenly collapsed. Sadly for him, though, he moved a moment too late to escape the sudden doton technique and he ended up falling on one of the spikes situated at the bottom, screaming from the immeasurable pain before succmbing to his death. After dealing with his goons, Naruto turned to see that Keiko was just finishing a hand seals sequence, before whispering _**Hyoton Aisuryuudan no Jutsu **(Ice Release: Ice Dragon Jutsu)._ Suddenly, just in front of her, a ten foot dragon made of ice charged against the jounin, before the beast's sharp edges embedded in the enemy's body, thus killing him instantly.

Immediately, Naruto joined Keiko, but upon arriving he saw a problem. A lone sweat on her forehead and a very well hidden but visible signs of exhaustion on her features, which meant that that proceeding like this would be a liability in the future.

"Keiko-san, I know its priority for you to come back to your home village, but you cannot proceed like this. The sun is already setting down, we'll set up camp for the night and we'll leave first time tomorrow" – Advised Naruto, but he could very well see the girl was a proud fighter and as such, quitting was not a word she kept in her vocabulary.

"What are you talking about Naruto; I can still fight, we have to get going" – Snarled Keiko as she marched forward, but Naruto grabbed her arm with force and with a firm attitude.

"Whether this is an official mission or not, I still have the obligation to protect you. So, you may not like it, but I'm authorized, by the very means of an escort mission as this happens to be one, to make the calls to better ensure your safety. We already fought enough for today and you said yourself that the enemies would be more skilled as we approach the village. You can't hope to top them in this condition" – Reasoned Naruto, but the woman wouldn't hear it.

"Damn it Naruto, people are dying as we speak, can you really expect me to rest at this time of need, if I don't reach there soon, there will be more deaths" – Said Keiko, not really taking into account the lack of chakra in her body.

"That may be true, but what will happen to them if you're killed before even reaching Kirigakure. What good would do for you to reach the last mile needed to cross the gates only for a kunai to be lodged on your chest soon afterwards? Come on, I'll set your tents and gather up some food and water" – Said Naruto as he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her still protesting body towards a more secluded place where Naruto could better protect her if something happens.

"Aren't you tired as well, Naruto? I mean, you ended up fighting more than I did and I don't see any hint of panting coming from you" – Asked Keiko just as Naruto positioned her to seat on top of a tree log that was lying on the ground, before grabbing his pack for the tents.

"Tsunade-sama wasn't exaggerating about my stamina and chakra capacity. Due to a certain characteristic to which I rather not divulge at the moment, my chakra reserves are at least four times the one from a jounin level shinobi and I always trained my body to withstand long periods of chakra usage and physical exercises" – Said Naruto while arranging the tents in a couple of minutes.

After a while, the scenery was set. Tents, enough water for the two to last a day and a couple of rations Naruto brought with him. Keiko even offered to make them a stew to which Naruto gladly accepted as now they were eating in silence, until Keiko decided to ask about something.

"So Naruto, I saw you using a doton technique earlier. I thought your affinity was wind?" – Asked Keiko, earning a smile from Naruto as he drank the last remnants of the surprisingly good stew.

"Well, first of all, this was very good, I always wanted to learn how to do this and second, yes my affinity is wind, but in order to be a jounin in Konoha, you must be a master of at least two elements. Plus, it really suits me in battle, you know. Fuuton is by theory, a heavily offensive affinity, thus needing a heavily defensive kind like Doton" – Explained Naruto before he saw Keiko nodding before finishing her plate. A while later, as Keiko was about to enter her tent until she turned to see her protection, before smiling.

"I'm glad you stopped me there Naruto, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be captured or worst killed and my people would suffer the consequences of my recklessness" – Said Keiko, before she saw Naruto smile in reassurance.

"Don't sweat Keiko-san. I understand you're eager to protect those you cherish and I understand that more than you think, I really do. That's what exactly what a kage would do for his people; get some sleep, I'll wake you when the sun comes out tomorrow" – Smiled Naruto, earning a appreciating nod from the woman, before closing the tent. In the beginning of this mission, Keiko doubted Naruto would be much of a help, from a few "jounin" shinobis she knew and the fact that because of his young appearance, she considered the thought of coming back to Konoha carrying him inside a body bag, but when the action started, he was the one that fought a bigger number of enemies. Not only he won, but she didn't notice a single signs of him being tired.

The Hokage told some aspects of his stamina being far superior to that of a jounin, but Keiko reasoned that the hokage wasn't telling her the real measure of Naruto's energy. Nevertheless, it bugged her not knowing about what happened to the blond in the past. She wondered why though; it's not that she thought it was some major event that shook the world's foundations, but rather the mystery of the situation that intrigued her. What could be painful that he doesn't feel right to talk about it? This concept of thinking was foreign for the woman. The shinobi lifestyle is one of death, there isn't a soul in the elemental nations who haven't suffered in the past and came through in the end, well at least not those who were consumed by it.

She was so engrossed in her line of thought that she didn't notice that her eyes were beginning to close, meaning her body decided to take control. It didn't take much and Keiko was already asleep.

* * *

**===the next day===**

The minute the first rays of sunlight adjourned Naruto's features, the blond awakened from his one hour nap. He said to the woman that he didn't need to rotate in guarding the area, but after a while, Naruto was getting tired, so he just summoned a kage bunshin, before fatigue ran its course. Immediately, the clone's memories reached him and he smiled now knowing that nothing of major importance happened. Getting down from the tree he was in, he went to the tent Keiko was using, before whispering for her name in order to wake her up.

"Keiko-san, you're up?" – Asked Naruto, before hearing what appeared to be grumbling sounds by someone who didn't appreciate waking up early.

_I guess most women don't like waking up early_ – Thought Naruto as he quickly gathered some water and a couple of fruits for breakfast. It was actually only after he returned that the girl left the tent fully dressed and ready to approach Kirigakure.

* * *

**===In Konoha===**

In Konoha, yet another woman grumbled upon receiving the sunlight directly through her eyes, before she shoved her face at the pillow in discomfort at the terrible night she had. Of course, why wouldn't her, when her boyfriend was miles and miles away with some bimbo from Kirigakure? When Naruto told her that his mission was to escort one of the members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist towards her homeland, Anko didn't say much rather than some nasty threats any girlfriend would make to her boyfriend if he was caught cheating on her, but afterwards upon digging further at any information about the only female member of the group, Anko had to kick herself mentally, asking why she let him go in the first place. Just by seeing her picture, Anko was beginning to suffer from a strange and unknown disease that she didn't feel before in her life and it was attacking her heart immensely.

Something about this situation didn't sit well in her mind and she just couldn't send away the picture of this person taking advantage of her Naruto like that. It was unnerving to say the least and the bags below her eyes were proof enough that the girl didn't have a nice sleep. It was even worse when she heard a knock on the door, since she really didn't want any company right now, well…no one except her boyfriend and maybe this Keiko person on the floor while Anko beat the crap out of her for daring to try anything with her Naruto. Marching furiously towards the door, she didn't even wear her robe as she opened the door with a heavy thud.

"What…! Oh sorry there Kurenai, thought it was some jerk wanting to be the first moron to piss me off today" – Snarled Anko, actually scaring her friend a bit.

"Wow, Anko you seem a little disturbed, what happened?" – Asked Kurenai as she got inside the apartment and then looked at her friend only to spot the bags below her eyes as a sign of a bad night.

"I'll tell what the hell my problem is goddamit! That fucking Hokage just sent my Naruto alone to escort one of the most beautiful women in all the elemental nations, which happens to be a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and now I keep thinking that she will try something with him. I was about to barge at that office of hers and give her a piece of my mind, before you came in" – Explained Anko as she saw Kurenai going for the kitchen and prepare some herbal tea for her friend, but now she opened the gate. "I don't know Kurenai, ever since Naruto told me of his mission and I looked at her picture, I kept imagining those two together and it hurts, dammit. It hurts a lot and I don't know why…I never had this feeling before, what is it? What is it that I'm like this all of a sudden" – Shouted Anko, before she saw Kurenai offering her a couple of tea while whispering some calming thoughts for her to calm down.

"I feared this was going to happen, Anko. Since Naruto is your first real relationship, you are now experiencing some emotions akin to your inexperience on the subject of relationships. Now, you may not know why are you feeling like this, but I do" – Said Kurenai, before she saw her friend's sobbing face as she continued. "You're being jealous of thie girl; you saw how pretty she is and you're afraid you'll lose him to her, am I right?" – Asked Kurenai, before she saw Anko nodding her head in positive, before Kurenai kneeled down next to her. "Anko-chan, this feeling is completely natural. You just love him too much and you don't want to lose him, it's totally understandable" – Reasoned Kurenai.

"If this is a natural feeling than how am I supposed to rid my mind of these images?" – Asked Anko, though she found that she was feeling slightly better from sharing this pain with someone.

"You just have to answer yourself a question. Do you trust him to do the right thing even if this girl you said does makes a move on him?" – Asked Kurenai, before seeing Anko answer without a second thought.

"Yeah, I do. Naruto never did anything that would betray my trust, but that don't stop the possibility of that bimbo making a move on my boyfriend" – Said Anko, earning a nod from Kurenai.

"I'm sure Naruto will do the right thing, Anko regardless of what happens" – Concluded Kurenai, before drinking some tea.

* * *

**===With Naruto=== **

Unable to know about Anko's feelings, Naruto was staring at Keiko with a serious look, since just seconds ago, he thought he heard that the woman asked him if he had a girlfriend. Keiko for her part didn't falter her smile at him, since she really wanted to know if he was available; after all it's nice to consider her options once the war back in Kirigakure finishes.

Naruto realized that the girl was serious about her question and wondered about the timing picked for such a thing. They were about to enter a war zone filled with people wanting to kill her and wouldn't think twice to kill him and here she comes, asking that question. Not to mention that should Anko be here right now, it would take every bit of strength out of him to keep his girlfriend from jumping at Keiko's throat with a kunai. He needed to do the right thing, however he didn't want for Keiko to be hurt, even though in a way, he was dismissing her by saying he already have someone.

"I have a girlfriend, yes. But why are you interested if I may ask?" – Asked Naruto, since he wanted to first get to know her reasons, even though he just gave her a big 'no' to her indirect question. Keiko wiped off that smile off her face immediately at the news, before looking down in shame for what she just did.

"No reason actually, I was just curious that's all, no big deal" – Laughed Keiko, though even she wouldn't fall for such a fake laugh, so she decided to change the topic. "Anyway, Naruto we need to get going now. Remember, until now, the ones we fought against were chunnins and low ranked jounins. Try to remember that the Yondaime Mizukage has its Anbu corps on his side, so there is a possibility that we encounter a few of them, but only after we cross the border to Water Country, which will take close to half a day of travel, if we run" – Said Keiko, before quickly getting up, not wanting to see Naruto's questioned face at her attempt of changing topic.

What few people knew was that finding someone to marry was Keiko's biggest desire and even with his gorgeous looks and sexy body, she couldn't find someone to be with and that frustrated her to no end. Checking Naruto from head to toe as the blond undid the tents, Keiko sighed in dismay before reasoning that Naruto could very well be the one for her, if he wasn't taken already, that is.

"We should get going Keiko-san, they may find this place soon" – Said Naruto with a serious look on his face, before he saw Keiko nod and walk in front of him for a while, before turning.

"I'm sorry about asking you that Naruto" – Apologized Keiko, but the sudden change in Naruto's lips which curved into a smile really surprised her.

"You don't need to worry about it Keiko-san. Yes, my heart belongs to my girlfriend Anko-chan back in Konoha, but I'm sure you'll find someone that feels the same way for you someday; now shall we go?" – Asked Naruto, before Keiko nod with a genuine smile on her face, before the two marched forward with the intent of crossing the border by the end of the day.

* * *

_**AN: And that's all folks…well at least for this chapter. **_

_**To some of you who may question about the interaction between Naruto and Keiko, I read the manga about the Fifth Mizukage getting ballistic when she misunderstood that guy with the byakugan Ao said to her. So, I wanted to create this interaction between her and Naruto. **_

_**Next time, the battles will intensify and a lot more action will follow suit…so see you all next time**_


	23. Journey to the Mist Part II

_**AN: **__I'd like to express my appreciation to all my readers of this story. When I started this fic, I never imagined reading a lot of good reviews; in fact, I actually thought the readers wouldn't give much credit to my writing and idea. However, upon looking at my story's stats, last week, I was surprised to see the numbers._

_**Chapter**__ 22 _

_**Words **__190.827 _

_**Reviews **__483 _

_**Hits **__308.065 _

_**C2 **__85 _

_**Favorites **__802 _

_**Alerts **__725_

_With this chapter, I'm fairly confident to reach the 500 reviews barrier and it's all thanks to the readers. Now, enough with the rambling and time for some action; enjoy!!!_

* * *

**Chapter 23 – Journey to the Mist Part II**

**Beta: Dreetje**

* * *

After cleaning everything, Naruto and Keiko set trip once more heading Keiko's home village, Kirigakure. Ever since they left Konoha, their respective swords spent more time inside the enemy's body then inside the respective holsters. However, they were aware of the fact that the ones they fought were just the army in the front, thus genins and chunnins. Now, though, jounins and Anbu level shinobi awaited them and Naruto could feel Keiko's uneasy feeling increasing each step of the way.

Normally, they would rely on traveling through the trees as it certainly would be faster to do so. However, as the situation is right now, simply traveling through the trees wouldn't alert them in time to avoid a flying kunai before it lodged into their chest. Not to mention the fact that it would waste unnecessary chakra. Keiko looked at the blond in front of her with a strange feeling of respect slowly rising each minute. Naruto, although strong and skilled, wasn't old enough for Keiko to expect such a proud stance. The way he walked exhaled confidence and the fact that his eyes were on high alert spoke highly of his caliber as a shinobi. She remembered their somewhat awkward discussion about Naruto having a girlfriend back in Konoha and she realized that not only the man was faithful, but also managed to ease her heart by saying that she would find someone else someday.

"Keiko..." - Called Naruto, alerting her attention. "Could you explain to me why those following us aren't attacking like the others?"

The woman shifted her eyesight slightly to the right and managed to see close to four shinobi following them from behind the trees. But, indeed, Naruto's question troubled her to no end.

"They are Kirigakure's tracker shinobis. Their training is to locate and relay the information for the Jounin. Their master is a powerful shinobi called Toride and he's the one to whom the trackers relay the information to. What I don't know, though, is why the Mizukage would waste a man of his talent just to hunt a person who is willingly coming back, instead of escaping" - Explained Keiko, with a frown, while looking at the blond.

"Probably the same reason he sent all the others, to kill one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and gain a major advantage in the war. Tell me, how many of your group is either alive or loyal to your cause? I happen to know that Zabuza is dead and Kisame went rogue. Also Raiga, I believe the man was called, was killed as well" - Asked Naruto, earning a nod from Keiko.

"The group indeed suffered because of those three's defection, but a couple of years ago, four new members joined with the three from old school, myself included. The man named Ao, to whom one of the enemies mentioned, is one of the old ones and he's rumored to be the strongest of the Seven Swordsmen, barely passing Kisame's skills." - Explained Keiko.

"Do you think this Toride character will show up?" - Asked Naruto, while never taking his eyes away from the people following them. However, his eyes caught glimpse of the woman nodding in positive.

"I do, however it won't be easy. There is a reason for his name, you know. His skills rely on defensive jutsu, in hopes of overcoming the attacker with time. So far, no one managed to draw blood from him. Nevertheless, I suspect he may have a Kekkei Genkai, but I don't know which one. All I know is that he can harden his body with Doton manipulation" - Explained Keiko, earning a frown in dismay from Naruto. Doton is the only element he didn't have the skill to go against.

"In that case, neither of us have any advantage against the man, element wise, sort of speak. Does he have a weakness we could explore?" - Asked Naruto, but once sighed in dismay, upon seeing Keiko's head nodding, this time, in the negative. Suddenly, the sound of kunai flying reverberated and landed precisely a few feet away from the traveling pair. The second they saw the paper attached to the kunai, their instincts ordered them to jump seconds before the explosion erupted, leveling the entire area.

While in midair, Naruto took his katana and kodashi in order to parry two of the enemies that came flying at him with great speed. He managed to parry every attack while they were falling to the ground. Naruto, seconds before touching the ground, focused an insane amount of wind chakra and shook the two Jounin off balance, leaving them unprotected for Naruto's dual swing attack, aiming for their necks. Keiko, for her part, managed to strike one Jounin with her kodashi, before three suddenly surrounded her, making a circle around her. Smirking at the men's stupidity, she made a fast sequence of hand seals, before slamming her hands on the ground.

_**Hyoton Touketsu Kangoku **__(Ice Release Frozen Prison Jutsu)_

She managed to catch two of them inside the prison, but the last one managed to jump away in time, before sending a barrage of water bullets after the woman. Using her supreme agility, she managed to dodge the attacks and landed a kick on the man's sternum, before seeing him double in pain. She was about to land the killing blow, but was stopped when she saw two coming from behind. Keiko would be able to prevent them from killing her, but instead she just let Naruto's _**Kaze no Yaiba **_technique slice them in two pieces.

Afterwards, Naruto landed next to Keiko and parried their backs with each other in perfect synchronization, while they watched close to ten shinobi forming a circle around them. Annoyingly to both Naruto and Keiko, all them, shinobi and kunoichi, were displaying arrogant smirks, like they had already won the battle.

Placing their swords inside the respective holsters, both Naruto and Keiko began a fast sequence of hand seals as they, together, controlled the wind around them.

_**Fuuton Taifuu Kirite **__(Wind Release Typhoon Cutter Jutsu)_

Suddenly, after a different hand seal, the swirling wind transformed into an enormous typhoon swirling around Naruto and Keiko, landing various cuts on the enemy's body, weakening them severely. In the end, it was only a matter of delivering the killing blows and the enemies were taken care of. The tracker shinobi, now with more information, vanished from sight, probably towards informing their master about Naruto's abilities, since they must have a huge file on Keiko's abilities to worry about spying on her. Looking at one another for a while, Naruto and Keiko cleansed their respective swords from the bloodstains, before they jumped towards the near tree while in contemplation of the attacks so far.

"Something is not right here" – Said Naruto, earning Keiko's attention as the blond continued. "The Mizukage's plan, according to what you're assuming, is to tire us first before getting rid of you. However, why the need to investigate my skills as well? Also, why would he send low level shinobi under the disguise of Jounin of Kirigakure? Something isn't adding up and I wouldn't be surprised if the next ones we're facing would know how I fight" – Explained Naruto, earning a nod from Keiko as she suddenly lost hope of reaching her village, her people alive. Ever since this whole thing started, she saw Naruto as a pile of strength, never backing down no matter how many came after him. Now, however, as they approached Kirigakure, the enemies will be tougher and if Naruto is right, then already aware of his skills.

"What is on your mind? Are you backing out from this?" – Asked Keiko, though she wasn't worried about this predicament since Naruto never lost that confident smile on his face.

"There is a reason we don't show all of our skills right of the bat; it's important to keep appearances. Nevertheless, until the skills I've shown so far don't work on our future enemies, I'll then use other skills; how about you?" – Asked Naruto, earning Keiko's attention, before he continued. "Do you have other kills besides Hyouton and Kenjutsu? If I remember correctly, Hyouton is the result of merging Fuuton and Suiton ninjutsu" – Explained Naruto, earning a snort from Keiko.

"So what? So far, the jutsu I used were enough to grant us halfway to our destination, I don't see where are you going with this?" – Asked Keiko, choosing to let it slide the fact that a male shinobi just questioned her abilities.

"I don't know how much they know about your abilities, but since you're only using Hyouton techniques, it would probably take them by surprise, using both Fuuton and Suiton ninjutsu" – Answered Naruto, clearly surprising Keiko who, for her part, began to think of her knowledge of the two styles and the time when she and Naruto made that coordinated Fuuton jutsu, however her pride as a kunoichi didn't let her acknowledge Naruto's tip.

"I'll think about it. In the mean time, I'll do just like you; use Hyouton until it becomes ineffective against the enemy" – Said Keiko, earning a snort from Naruto as he eyed the tracker ninja once more following them as they travelled. Suddenly, though, the group saw in front of them the result of a technique that made Keiko boil with sudden anger. In front of them, a huge tidal wave was enveloping everything in its path and would no doubt, envelope them both, has they not focused chakra to their feet and escaped. However, as they landed on top of the new transformed river, Keiko couldn't help but snarl and Naruto was watching her with suspicion. She, then, looked up as she heard a familiar voice laughing down at her.

"Hahaha, you should've seen your face Keiko-chan. It was priceless" – Said the man named Kurama. Rather tall, yet not muscular, silver long hair and a blue bandana with the Kirigakure headband. He was carrying what appeared to be two strapped katanas on his back both of them displaying a simple but rather beautiful navy blue holster color. Unlike Naruto's, though, they were positioned like a cross on his back.

"Kurama, you bastard, what are you doing? Why did you attack us?" – Asked Keiko, though from what Naruto could interpret, this Kurama character was perhaps her ally in Kirigakure. The ally, now turned enemy, though, gave his shoulders and looked down on the two, but Naruto could tell the man's sight was devoted exclusively to the woman next to him.

"You know, you're the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen Keiko-chan; stop snarling at me, it doesn't suit your beauty. Now, you must be wondering about what I'm doing here right?" – Asked Kurama before he rubbed his temples as in trying to think, but his pretense was to get a rise out of the girl. "I'm tired of this hell hole my darling, we've been fighting against the Mizukage for kami knows how long, it's pointless to continue. A couple of months ago, one of his minions contacted me to switch sides and I agreed to it…of course for a rightful reward right?" – Explained Kurama, before seeing Keiko snarl even further and even leak some killing intent.

"You did this for money you bastard; what about that big old talk of yours that the Mizukage wouldn't continue his tyranny, huh? What about all those innocent villagers that were slaughtered just because they tried to rise against our honorable leader. Tell me Kurama, what about your little brother Yahiko, huh? You'd betray everything he ever did by joining the very man who killed him in open public" – Shouted Keiko, while the man never took his smile off his face. Naruto for his part already narrowed his eyes at the man and their surroundings, wondering If the traitor brought some friends with him as well. So far, he managed to located what appeared to be one of Kirigakure's Anbu team lurking in the shadows, a couple of trees behind the one Kurama were standing.

"You talk as if I ever cared about any of that Keiko-chan; compared to what Mizukage-sama promised to offer once the civil war is over and everyone of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist is dead. With me joining his side and you now dead, only five members to go" – Said Kurama as he took both katanas and pointed them straight at Keiko, thus threatening her life. She snarled once more and then turned to Naruto.

"Naruto, this man right there is…rather was one of the loyal ones. His name is Kurama and a master of the dual katana style of fighting; he is also well-versed in long range Suiton jutsu just like the one you saw before. Back in Kiri, he is called **Kirigakure no Shuuha** (Wave of Kirigakure). Don't get fooled by his lack of muscles, he's fast and precise in his blows" – Reported Keiko, earning a nod from Naruto as he looked to apparently nothing and no one.

"Ok, but he isn't alone, though. I can sense probably three to four Anbus close behind him, just waiting for the fight to start. I can take care of them if you want to; leave the traitor with you" – Offered Naruto, earning a smile from Keiko as she saw the sudden change in Kurama's look which told her that Naruto was right and the man was hoping to catch her off guard. However, the fact remained that she was to face another one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and not some random Jounin or Chuunin from Kirigakure's forces. Nevertheless, she felt confident that Naruto would be able to take care of the Anbus, while she would deal with Kurama.

"I can see you haven't changed Kurama, always relying on others to do your dirty work" – Taunted Keiko as she took her sword off the holster, before adjusting her distance towards engaging Kurama. She knew that the exact moment that she charged against Kurama, the Anbus would retaliate. However, she trusted Naruto to do the right thing once they do. Focusing chakra to her feet, she charged straight at Kurama before, as expected, three blurs appeared in front of her. And also, as expected Naruto or at least three Narutos appeared and managed to block the respective sword strikes, before landing a kick on their stomach, sending them away from the fight between the swordfighters.

Seeing the sudden intrusion, Kurama used one of his katanas and swung it vertically aiming for the woman's head, before Keiko used her sword to parry it, before twisting her body to evade the next one coming for her chest. She, then, landed a kick on his face, sending him flying towards the next tree before wiping a strain of blood from his mouth. Smiling, he positioned his swords once more and eyed Keiko with care.

* * *

**===Somewhere within Fire Country===**

Located within a mountain area, Jiraiya was sitting on top of a tree log on the ground as he processed the turn of events so far. After his discovery regarding the leader of the Akatsuki, things became even more interesting. Instead of facing him in battle, Jiraiya opted to spy on the leader, using the toads as aid since no one would suspect a thing about them. He didn't find out much about Pein, other than the fact that he's the leader of the organization and possessor of the doujutsu Rinnegan. What he discovered, though, was a book detailing some aspects of the mysterious doujutsu located at a hidden section of Amegakure private library. Apparently, his old student Nagato collected some information about Rikudou Sennin's adventures. The book didn't contain any information about the tailed beasts, but rather contained a variety of information about the Rinnegan and its uses.

Furthermore, the organization was for a while now, trying to go after the Kyuubi and the Hachibi, but for some reason, neither Itachi nor Kisame attempted a move against Naruto. This kind of irritated Jiraiya, since the man would be oblivious to any sort of movement from their part and he feared that by the time they actually make a move, it would be late for him to aid the blond. He was aware of Naruto's impressive improvement these last couple of months and actually believed that he could face one of the members alone, the problem was facing two of them.

From his record, Jiraiya saw that Naruto was specializing in engaging multiple enemies at once and Jiraiya was aware of the blond's mission in aiding one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist against the Mizukage's forces and no doubt, he would receive a lot of experience that will serve against Akatsuki and the snake in the future. The pervert, then, made some hand seals for the summoning technique, until the key toad (verificar o nome) appeared with his arms crossed.

"**Wow, it's been a while Jiraiya. Why have you summoned me?"** - Spoke the key toad.

"I just wanted to take a look at the key to Naruto's seal that's all. It's high time we made some adjustments to it. Minato-kun adjusted the seal so that slowly, the Kyuubi's chakra merges with Naruto's, thus increasing his chakra capacity. By adjusting it, the speed in which the merger occurs will increase" - Responded Jiraiya, earning a frown in worry from the toad.

"**Do you think it's wise to do such a thing. You do well to remember the last time you tried to temper with the seal, don't you?"** - Asked Gerotora, before he saw Jiraiya nod his head.

Suddenly, images of the sannin bleeding severely because of a deep gash on his chest; courtesy of a four tailed Naruto played through his mind.

At the time, Naruto could only reach two tails until he lost control of his own body, thus allowing Kyuubi to leak an absurd amount of chakra, thus doubling the number of tails. Since then, Jiraiya was scared that if he tempered one more time with the seal, there was a high chance he wouldn't be able to subdue Naruto and that would be his end and Naruto as well. So, he just reduced Naruto's training to basic skills that all shinobi must learn, not focusing, though, on what the blond needed to survive out there. He admitted regretting his fear of doing what he did, even though Naruto came out better than he expected.

"The last time he wasn't ready for the power and I admit it was my fault; today, though is a different issue. He managed to develop some impressive fighting skills and he doesn't rely on the fox's power any more. By increasing the speed in which his chakra merges with the fox, his chakra reserves will only improve. Plus the fact that as you know, it's only dangerous when he tempers with the fox's power. If he doesn't use it, then what we are doing won't harm him, instead, only serving to benefit him in the end" - Explained Jiraiya, earning a grumbling from the strange looking toad.

True, Naruto expanded his skills if Gamaken's reports were any indication. The swords toad would follow the blond on occasions and register his accomplishments so far.

"**It's true he's improved greatly. And while I question your sanity in this manner, I won't question your intentions. After all, Minato entrusted the key to you; at least you've been warned if it backfires and Kyuubi manages to escape his prison"** - Concluded Gerotora, before, suddenly, his body opened like a big scroll with lots of scribbling with two big squares in front of Jiraiya.

The pervert, then, focused some chakra to his fingers and placed all of them inside the square as he began scribbling inside the square. As he continued, he would look on what's already written so as not to tamper too much with the seal. Half an hour later, he was done and immediately, the scroll closed.

"**It appears you have too much faith on the kid Jiraiya. Are you thinking of teaching him Senjutsu?"** - Asked the Key Toad, before seeing the pervert cross his arms in contemplation.

"It would certainly be quite an asset in the future to have another Senjutsu user in the future. I know I'm still here, but that may not be the case in the future. Nevertheless, it would be up to him, if he wants to learn it or not and that's where the problem is" - Said Jiraiya until he was questioned about the motive. "Naruto wasn't appreciative of the time we spent together training and I fear that should we give him the choice, he'll decline thinking it would be just like before".

"**It wouldn't be without reason, though and you are very well aware of that. Nevertheless, you could, perhaps, ask Fugasaku-sama to do the convincing part. I happen to know that he was the one who assigned the three toads as the kid's summons"** - Advised Gerotora as Jiraiya lifted his head to look at the toad.

"I'll think about it, thanks for your time" - Said Jiraiya while smiling as the key suddenly vanished, leaving the pervert alone to think while he headed towards his home village. On the way, he was processing the possibility of teaching Naruto, Senjutsu and the man was worried about Naruto's reaction to the offer.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

Using his two swords, Naruto was managing quite nicely against the three Anbus...well two, since one of them felt victim to his kodashi, after a failed strike aiming Naruto's neck. He was now observing his opponents wearily as he analyzed every detail ranging from the men's posture to the way they hold their respective swords. He was about to attack the enemies when his body went stiff out of a sudden. Huge pain echoed through his chakra coils and he was trying very hard not to scream as his chakra was boiling inside his body.

He couldn't understand what was happening. This was a new feeling entirely; it didn't belong to the Kyuubi, since he was in perfect control of his emotions, thus not letting any chakra leak through the seal. Then why the hell is this happening? He looked up to see that the Anbus were just about to take advantage of the blond's predicament as they unleashed a heavy assault on the boy. However, before they managed to land a hit, an explosion of blue chakra surrounded his body involuntarily, just like the time he fought against Gaara at the Sand/Sound invasion.

The chakra was enveloping him, thus protecting him from outside damage, but nothing was protecting him from the inside damage. His chakra coils were expanding, he could feel it. The process was painful as hell and the blond feared that Kyuubi would take this chance and use his chakra; however Naruto didn't feel anything coming from the cage. It appeared that whatever caused this, affected the fox as well as Naruto could hear the fox screaming in agony as well.

Instantly, he appeared in front of the cage and was surprised to see the fox's chakra being absorbed by the seal and then transforming into blue chakra, before unleashing it towards Naruto's chakra pathways, which were represented by the huge quantity of pipelines.

"What the hell is going on fur ball?" - Shouted Naruto as he suddenly grabbed his stomach in hopes of stopping the burning sensation.

"**Don't ask me weakling, somehow this damn seal is absorbing my chakra faster than before. I'll kill that damn Yondaime for inventing this damn piece of paper"** - Said Kyuubi as he, then, roared in pain, frightening Naruto to his very core. The blond, then, looked at the seal which was glowing yellow, before it suddenly stopped and the pain immediately subsided. He was, then, immediately transported to the outside world as he eyed the two Anbus in front of him.

He, then, got up and looked at his hands in amazement at his chakra capacity now. His breathing was rapid and he couldn't control his heartbeat properly because of the sudden surge of energy flowing through his coils. The blond was so engrossed in this situation that he ignored the fact that not only the Anbus were looking at him, but also Keiko and Kurama as well. Their faces were a mixture of shock and fear at the sheer feeling of Naruto's chakra.

The woman for her part remembered him talking about his burden and wondered if what happened now had anything to do with it. Plus the fact that she sensed the distinguished feeling of a demon, she was already matching the blond with the current Yondaime Mizukage as both demon hosts.

_No, it can't be, Naruto cant' be a jinchuuriki, can he? It would explain why his chakra levels is so elevated, but I never saw him using the demon's chakra. How can he control it to the point of not losing his mind, then? The Yondaime Mizukage's demon is the Sanbi and he already loses his mind trying to control the beast's urges. _- Thought Keiko as she eyed Kurama for a moment. She knew the man was thinking the exact same thing if his face was anything to go by.

She wasn't even paying attention to any sudden movements coming from him, because of the feeling she was getting from Naruto. However, that proved to be her fatal mistake as Kurama took this opportunity to land an attack from his sword, leaving a deep cut on Keiko's arms.

Suddenly, much to the woman's fear, poison started dripping from Kurama's sword.

Back to Naruto, he was feeling his improved chakra running like mad throughout his chakra coils. He tried controlling it urges, but he was having difficulty doing so. He, then, saw the Anbus charging at him fast, before he positioned both his swords in the enemy sword's way. The clashing could be heard at a large distance as the Anbus stumbled backwards because of the sheer force of Naruto's defense.

Wasting little time, Naruto suddenly started a sequence of hand seals, before slamming his hands with each other.

_**Fuuton Dai Reppushou **__(Wind Release Great Gale Wind Palm Jutsu)_

The Anbus were oblivious to the results before they saw, briefly, two big jets of wind strike their stomach with force, thus sending them flying uncontrollably as well as leveling the entire field they were standing on. Save from a few trees, the rest were ripped off the ground.

Naruto looked on in shock at the sheer amount of power he used behind the jutsu and cursed the fact that he now had to do chakra control exercises. Looking up, he saw Kurama landing a vicious attack on Keiko, before his eyes widen in shock as he also saw the poison dripping from the katana, meaning Keiko was just inflicted with a deadly poison.

He saw the woman falling instantly from the tree she was standing and was about to land on her head, before Naruto managed to catch her. He saw her sweaty face and he, then, placed his hands on her forehead and much for his shock, she was suffering from severe fever.

He caught glimpse of Kurama moving in for the kill, but Naruto used his **Fuuton Shunshin **and immediately vanished from sight along with a poisoned Keiko on his arms, leaving Kurama alone in the field, as he looked through all directions, only to realize that they were indeed gone. No worry, though, as the woman would die in a couple of hours because of the poison.

* * *

**===Inside a cave nearby===**

Once inside a cave, Naruto landed Keiko near a couple of rocks, before he gathered a couple of leaves to serve as pillow for her head. Naruto was furious regarding this predicament because of his lack of knowledge on how to treat poison cases. He doubted some first aid kit would solve the situation. Focusing some suiton chakra, he soaked a tissue and then placed it on her forehead to control the fever.

Keiko's situation, though, didn't allow her to breathe normally, but even so, she managed to speak to the blond.

"Naruto...listen to me....we don't have much time....you'll need to extract the poison within my system" – Said Keiko, but the sudden pain prevented her from saying much more. Naruto was caressing her face softly while whispering words of comfort.

"Easy there Keiko, don't strain your body needlessly. You just tell me what you need and I'll get it" – Spoke Naruto as he picked the tissue from her forehead and soaked some more before placing it back on.

"I happen to know about the poison…Kurama used on…me. There is a plant outside…that will be used as an herbal tea for the extraction…It's a purple orchid with red leaves on each side of the stem…You have to take the root as well, because it's the root…that will serve as the herb for the tea" – Ordered Keiko, before she saw Naruto making one Kage Bunshin, before the clone went outside to collect the herbs as instructed by Keiko. While this was going on, Naruto was doing his best to ease her pain with a couple of pain killers which was found on his first-aid kit and one from Keiko's as well.

She appreciated the med and somehow eased the tension, before she looked at Naruto with weak eyes.

"I'm sorry for my recklessness Naruto, because of me, Kurama…." – Said Keiko, but stopped once Naruto landed his head on her mouth, while whispering comforting words for her not to worry about it, instead, focus her remaining energy in getting better. Suddenly, a smoke appeared inside the cave and the clone arrived with the plant as instructed before he began to prepare the herbal tea.

"Naruto…this certain poison attacks the blood specifically…ah damn it this hurts…you'll have to extract the blood from my arm…With my Hyouton skills, I managed to…hold the poison near the wounded area…pick up a sterilized kunai, inside my bag…and make a small incision right below the wound…." – Instructed Keiko, before Naruto nodded and took one of the kunais the woman mentioned. Afterwards, Naruto placed the kunai right below the wounded area and pierced the skin. Next, much to Naruto's relief, blood started to leak from the wound he inflicted on her arm and what appeared to be a black substance leaked out as well. The last step was to cleanse her body of the poison's effects by injecting the herbal tea which was quickly brought by the clone, before he dispelled.

Naruto, then, lifted her head with care as he allowed her to drink some tea, before, slowly, returning her head to the original position. Looking at the wound, he saw that the stained blood was gone and now only the usual red liquid was pouring from her arm. The poison was safely extracted, however, now the blond would have to close the wound, so as not to kill the woman from blood loss. Following the woman's instructions, with a more relaxed voice now, Naruto managed to close the wound perfectly, before feeding Keiko with a couple of blood pills to refill what was lost.

The procedure was successful and Naruto felt relieved that he didn't screw things up. He had to admit that this was an entirely new experience to him. Suddenly, though, Keiko closed her eyes, frightening Naruto because he thought the woman was going to die. Placing two fingers near her jugular, he was once more relieved that he felt a stable hear beat coming from the woman.

Releasing the breath he wasn't even aware he was holding, Naruto, then, sit on the ground while imagining what could happen if the woman was indeed dying from blood loss.

He didn't know, though, how much time would take for Keiko to recover her consciousness, so he left with nothing to do besides set out some traps near the cave entrance and start a small fire to warm the cold cavern. He, then, found some ration bars and ate them while wondering what the hell happened before. The sudden surge of chakra, the scene inside his stomach and the deafening roar Kyuubi emitted once in terrible pain; it was all too much for Naruto to take into consideration and practically impossible for him to know the cause behind this whole thing. He didn't know much about the mechanics behind fuuinjutsu and he certainly didn't know much about the Yondaime's seal that keeps Kyuubi at bay; but he had a feeling that someone tempered with the seal.

It was the only explanation, since neither he nor Kyuubi knew what was going on at the time. From the top of his head, Naruto could only count one person who would be able to temper with the seal as this certain individual already tried once in the past. Jiraiya, when he and Naruto left for the training trip, tried to temper with the seal a bit, however the results were catastrophic, ending with Naruto using up to four tails worth of the fox's chakra and almost killing the man if the sannin didn't manage to place a suppression seal on Naruto's forehead at the time.

Since then, the topic of Kyuubi's chakra became taboo between the two with Jiraiya not teaching Naruto anything too chakra demanding, choosing, instead to focus on increasing Naruto's Taijutsu and weaponry skills. Naruto wasn't certain as his mind was running around theories; he wasn't certain it was Jiraiya who tampered with the seal, simply because of the fact that are still a lot of mystery to unravel regarding the Yondaime's sealing technique. However, that didn't exclude the pervert from the top of the list of suspects. Focusing, instead, on the repercussions, Naruto was shocked at the amount of chakra he now possessed. Still now, his chakra was constantly travelling at alarming speed inside his chakra pathways, but the blond was slowly coming in terms with his new chakra capacity.

Closing his eyes, he began the same exercises he learned under Aoi-sensei's tutelage back in Konoha. Breathing in and out as in nothing could affect him from the outside, learning how to meditate, thus feeling his chakra running through every part of his body, going through the legs all the way up to the arms and then back down at his feet. In no time, Naruto was once more in front of the cage which was holding the almighty Kyuubi no Yoko prisoner since Naruto was born. The seal stopped glowing a long time ago and the silence was enough evidence that the Kyuubi wasn't shouting or making a scandal. Naruto was sudden awakened from his slumber as the two red eyes looked at him from the shadow, before the fox materialized in front of Naruto.

"**So I see you came to know about what happened before, right? Pitiful ape"** **– **Said Kyuubi as he looked at the boy in front of him.

"Who else, besides the Yondaime Hokage, has enough knowledge to be able to temper with the seal? This happened once before when me and the pervert went to train a couple years ago. Back then, his idea didn't work and you took advantage of the situation, sending an abnormal amount of chakra to my system, overloading my brain and taking momentary control of my body. This time, though, my chakra capacity nearly doubled and I have a feeling that this was what Jiraiya intended to do at the time" – Commented Naruto as he heard the sound of contemplation coming from the fox.

"**Hum, indeed that perverted excuse of a shinobi does have knowledge of fuuinjutsu as it was him who prevented me from taking over your pitiful body. I can feel, though, that this damn seal managed to purify my evil chakra and send it clean to your system to incorporate your already high chakra capacity, thus doubling its amount. I fear, though, that this will happen more and more until my chakra is entirely purified and transferred to you, thus killing me in the future"** – Explained Kyuubi, but strangely to the blond, the fox was speaking in such a casual manner that he almost thought that this was what the Kyuubi was aiming for.

"You speak as if you're not dreading this upcoming result, fur ball. I would imagine your pride clouding your judgment of the truth; oh how the mighty have fallen" – Asked Naruto, quite expecting the fox to shout in reply, but much to his dismay, the creature simply remained the stare, though not saying anything.

"**Don't be mistaken you brat, I do hate your guts and even more so the Yondaime for placing me here with you for all this time. I may very well be totally absorbed by the seal in the future, but my presence won't be extinguished from this world. The reason is entirely because of the human way of dealing with situations" **– Smiled Kyuubi as he saw Naruto's perplexed face, before he continued. "**My coming to this world was simply a result of the way you humans treated each other. Hatred, Anger, Jealousy, Doubt, Fear; all these emotions filled me with enough power to level an entire village. No matter how much light you bring to a room, darkness will only be intensified" – **Concluded Kyuubi, this time laughing at Naruto's face of clear discomfort at the situation.

Nevertheless, he couldn't fault with the fox's logic on the manner. Human beings are capable of many good deeds, but they are even more capable of behaving like demons on occasions. Images of Sasuke demanding revenge for what his brother Itachi did against their very clan; images of Konoha population looking at him wanting him killed, thus supposedly freeing Konoha from the Kyuubi no Yoko for good. Even now, the things he did in favor of protecting the girl in front of him, the number of kills just on this mission alone; no doubt he knew that when knowledge reaches the family of those he killed, they will demand revenge on Naruto, thus creating a circle of hatred. Suddenly, the Yondaime Hokage came to mind and the fact that while the man is a hero in Konoha, in Iwa, he's viewed the same way Konoha sees the Kyuubi no Yoko, as the one responsible for the village's almost destruction.

Seeing nothing more to discuss with the fox, Naruto immediately cut off the link and looked at the sleeping from of Keiko while wondering about the never ending circle of hatred and the shinobi's way of life. He just couldn't find a solution to stop this as this life style was what he chose the minute he earned his hitai-ate. Admitting that he didn't believe in the shinobi life style would be like admitting he was a failure as a shinobi. Nevertheless, the boy concluded with satisfaction that he wasn't a simple killing machine, going out there killing just for his pleasure; as a shinobi, it's his duty to protect those he care for and also those who lacks the necessary skills for self-protection.

* * *

**===With Jiraiya===**

After breaking the conversation with the toad to whom was stored the Key to Naruto's seal, the pervert sannin went straight to his homeland in order to relay the information he now possessed relating the Akatsuki leader's doujutsu, the Rinnegan. However, as he walked calmly throughout the grass fields, he couldn't help but wonder how Naruto was now, considering the new addition to his seal. Jiraiya knew the boy was on a mission and as such, tempering with the seal could prove to be troublesome for the blond to handle at the moment.

The last time Jiraiya attempted to temper with the seal, the chakra released from the Kyuubi into his system proved too much for the blond to handle, thus letting go of his control over the fox's urges. Now, though, this new seal would purify the fox's chakra and send it straight to Naruto's system faster than before. He knew the kid to be better resilient now and he also knew his plan didn't backfire; otherwise the Key Toad would've alerted him ahead of time if something was wrong. The sun was just about to set and the breath-taking orange hue was already illuminating the sky. The wind was calmly adjourning his features, causing Jiraiya to breathe deeply and just smile at the feeling of fresh air. However, his feelings were short lived as he caught glimpse of black robes with red clouds standing in front of him.

"So, it's been a long time since I last saw you two, it's not nice to disappear just like that. A post card would've been nice. Itachi! Kisame!" - Said Jiraiya with a smirk on his face as he heard a following snort from the shark-like shinobi. "May I ask the reason why you two came to talk to me? If it's Naruto you're after, then you're information is slightly mistaken. That brat is not here with me, nor do I know where he is" - Asked Jiraiya, as he crossed his arms while thinking about subduing these two right here.

"Do not take us for fools, Jiraiya. If Naruto-kun was here, then my Sharingan would've alerted me to his presence a long time ago, we, instead, wanted to talk to you for a while" - Motioned Itachi, earning a snort from Jiraiya as he wondered what business would these two have with him, other than trying to know about Naruto's whereabouts.

"And you're under the impression that I am in any mood to talk with two S-ranked criminals? Please tell me what can I do for the almighty Uchiha Itachi?" - Asked Jiraiya, taunting the two in front of him, but since Naruto wasn't with him, the white-haired sannin figured he could get a rise out of the two and see their intentions. However, while Kisame was easy to taunt, proof of his irritated face, Itachi, as any member of the Uchiha clan, was stoic as ever.

"The capture of the Kyuubi is taking too long and our leader is getting rather inpatient. If this continues, then I'm afraid he'll grow tired and take drastic measures. Measures I'm sure you, as a proud shinobi of your village wouldn't want to see happening. So, he sent us here to talk to you into convincing Naruto to surrender himself to us, otherwise..." - Said Itachi, before he saw Jiraiya frown his temples at the existing threat to the village. The Rinnegan possessed an immense power of destruction and he could easily level Konoha entirely. Seeing as Jiraiya didn't offer a reply for the moment, Itachi decided to elaborate.

"The needs of many outstands the needs of one; by handling Naruto to us, no harm will occur to Konoha; however if you refuses to cooperate in this manner, our leader will take this matter into his own hands. Needless to say things will get ugly" – Concluded Itachi, before he foresaw Jiraiya's reply this time.

"Your leader may be strong Itachi, but by attacking the village, he'd be condemning a full-scale war and your organization is staff short, so to speak. In other words, Konoha outnumbers Akatsuki by at least 1000 to 1. Plus, you have to take into account that people like me, Tsunade, Kakashi and our village's finest won't just stand and watch while your organization appears trying to destroy everything, not to mention the fact that Naruto himself is no pushover. Nevertheless, if what you're saying is true, then It will be to our advantage to just get rid of you two right here" - Smiled Jiraiya as he suddenly picked two kunais and slashed their necks with tremendous speed. However, unsurprisingly, their bodies dissolved to water and crows, respectively.

_Huh, damn bunshins! - _Thought Jiraiya quite irritated for his liking. The organization was playing in the shadows thus far and now they appeared making threats to Konoha in order to handle Naruto to them, no questions asked. Quickly making some hand and offering the blood sacrifice, Jiraiya smashed his hands on the ground before he was on top of a big green toad wearing a blue jacket and a grin from ear to ear. Immediately, the toad jumped towards Jiraiya's destination, Konoha. He had to increase his step now that a new threat has appeared.

* * *

_**AN: And…cut. Well, Akatsuki is on the move once more! What will happen if Konoha doesn't agree with the organization's terms? **_

_**Next chapter the Kirigakure Ark will finish and a new one will commence.**_

_**Stay tuned.**_


	24. Journey to the Mist Part III

**Chapter 24 – Journey to the Mist Part III**

* * *

Inside the cave, while waiting for Keiko to wake from her slumber, Naruto was left with nothing to do as he grasped the feeling of his chakra coils being in constant expansion. Kyuubi was right and the blond could feel with great pain, how each tail worth of chakra was slowly being purified by the seal and released into his chakra system. His muscles were getting sore from overstrain and his stamina couldn't withstand the pain for so long a time.

However, even with the pain, his mind would manage to process some information like wondering how much chakra will still fill his chakra coils, before this damn procedure ended and how much chakra control would he have to do in order to get accustomed to the whole thing.

Looking at the woman in front of him, he realized that they would have to wait a while in here before going back to the field. She would be recuperating from the poison extraction and he from chakra coil overload. He couldn't help but flinch every time the damn fox roared from the pain, because of the seal extracting its powers, but he couldn't help but sympathize with the damn fox, after all whereas it would scream in pain from chakra being leaked out, Naruto would clench his muscles in a failed attempt to withstand the pain because of chakra coming in. By now, Naruto must be receiving a total of six tails worth of chakra, leaving only three for this damn pain to subside and he could breathe once more.

_Seven tails…_

_Eight tails…_

_Nine tails…_

As the tails worth of chakra were being cleansed into his system, a violent blue energy began to engulf him once more and he was holding on his stomach for dear life as his body was burning at an insane rate. By now, Naruto could care less about the mission or the woman in front of him and the possible trap they would be walking once outside the cave. All he cared about now was the damn pain and how much more it would take to end it, because he didn't know if his muscles and stamina could take much more of this. Suddenly and much to the blond's relief, the blue chakra just dissipated and usual noise caused by it vanished, being replaced by the echoing noise of water dropping from the top of the cave.

He was panting from obvious lack of stamina to withstand the rest of the procedure, which was saying much considering that it was a while since he was last tired. His mind suddenly clicked from what Aoi-sensei gave him once while in training and he remembered to thank the man once he returned home. Quickly, he looked through his things and smiled upon finding a single soldier pill enveloped by a white napkin.

As he swallowed it, he immediately felt his energy filling his stamina, giving the blond a new boost. He, then, looked at Keiko and realized that the woman was steering from her position and he could see she was in a great amount of pain because of it.

"Easy there Keiko, relax a bit. I'm glad you woke up, this is the first time I ever extracted poison before and I wasn't sure if it worked"

The woman was immediately on action, once hearing the voice, before grabbing a kunai, but she, then, saw it was Naruto and relaxed instantly.

"…Naruto, how long was I out?"

Keiko was rubbing her head trying to ease the sudden pain caused by the poison in her system, but since the blond managed to extract it entirely, she was only left with the repercussions.

"A couple of hours Keiko, no big deal; I managed to find some rations here with me for when you woke up, please eat" – Said Naruto.

The woman accepted without even thinking twice and ate the whole thing as her stomach was carving for energy. After swallowing it, she was starting to feel better, but by this time, the events that ended with Kurama poisoning her returned full force to her head and she looked at the blond in front of her with a definitely new light. The blond for his part wondered why the sudden look before Keiko decided to confront him about what happened out there and what about that strange blue energy that surrounded the Konoha Jounin.

To her surprise, though, the blond was hesitant to speak at first, so she decided to make him drop some of his barrier by exposing her knowledge on said energy.

"Naruto, if you're afraid to tell me you're a jinchuuriki, then don't; I had enough encounters with the Yondaime Mizukage to realize that what I felt before was demon energy. You don't have to be so mysterious about it anymore…"

Stunned realization was upon him in an instant. Although, he also felt the demon chakra being cleansed by the seal, he wasn't even certain that Keiko was aware of said influence. Even worse was the fact that the Mizukage himself was a jinchuuriki as well, but Naruto was having other concerns at the moment, like having to explain his sad story to the woman in front of him.

Nevertheless, he guessed he should run damage control over the whole ordeal; after all some secrets must remain as such.

"…Yes Keiko, I'm a jinchuuriki, a sacrifice, though which bijuu I rather not tell. If someone outside of the village found which bijuu I carry, then they would certainly link it to information that is bound by an S-ranked secret" – Said Naruto.

"You said it before, that I had courage by sharing my history with you, so it's only fair you share it with me, I'm not interested, whatsoever in solving any secret from Konoha; rather I want to know more about you…" – Said Keiko, as she saw the blond showing a sudden solemn look on his face. "We can't go anywhere because of the poison's effects and since you kind of owe me with your piece of sad story, I'm all ears"

Naruto wasn't sure if he should even open his mouth about it, but Keiko was right…she did tell her bad story for him.

..._Oh what the hell...it's not like I'm ashamed or anything..._

"Ok, I guess it's only fair that I tell you after all....well, where do I start. I guess it all goes back to when I was only three years old, I remember it clearly because it was my first memory ever. I remember waking up in this old house made with damaged walls and ceiling presenting holes all over, with nothing but a dirt brown mattress on the floor. At the time, I didn't know I was an orphan, not only because I didn't even know what that word meant at the time, but also because some of the orphan owners took care of me, even if a little bit...

Keiko was surprised that Naruto's story would go as far as his childhood, but she just sit there listening while looking at his solemn eyes staring at the floor the entire time.

"My life there as I grew up was nothing pleasant to say the least.. Whereas before the owners would treat me at least in a decent manner, when I was four, they started looking at me with enough hatred that obliged me to stay away from them; the other kids bullied me, some because they felt like it, others did under orders from the orphan owners. Sometimes, I wondered why they were doing this, but never once did I cry or scream at them for what they did. At the age of six, they finally got rid of me by throwing me away from the orphanage. I lived on the streets for a while, until the kind Sandaime Hokage found me and rented a small apartment for me to live. We ended up talking a lot and the old man kept telling me stories about how is to be a ninja...hehehe, I guess if I were to say today who inspired me to become what I'm today, would be the old man Sandaime..."

The woman didn't know why, this story already started bad enough and she didn't think the blond would display any sort of smile, but it certainly Naruto must've been a lonely kid and would've remain as such, if it weren't for the Sandaime Hokage's warm heart, but she knew this story was far from over as she listened intently, wondering about that true smile of his and how beautiful it was to just look at it.

"However, just because I had a roof over my head, didn't mean my life was any easier. The truth of me being a jinchuuriki was known to all except to me until I was twelve and whenever I tried to purchase something, people would either overprice me to the point I couldn't afford it or simply throw me away from their store. In fact, the only time I had an actual meal was when Sandaime Hokage would treat me to lunch at a ramen stand. Actually, for a while, this was the only place I went to eat not only because of the nice food, but also the fact that the stand was the only place I could afford. You'd think that getting food and water as a kid was my major concern, but it wasn't...not until the first time, anyway"

"What happened?" - Asked Keiko, cursing the blond for entrapping her in his story. It was even worse when he looked even sadder than he was before.

"My first assassination attempt..." - Said Naruto much to Keiko's horror and utter shock... "As I wandered around the streets of the village, people often saw me and only saw the demon trapped within me, they kept shooting enraged glares at me, until a group of the villagers decided that my presence was to be extinguished, so they tried to kill me. Fortunately, the village Anbu managed to stop them before they delivered the killing blow, but they managed to kick my body consecutive times which sent me to unconsciousness all the time...After that, even though the Hokage placed some Anbus to look over me from time to time, that didn't stop some skilled chunnin to slip in their grasp and attack me once more, but then I managed to flee from their grasp. This only stopped when I managed to graduate at the academy and became a genin, but whether they stopped attacking because of me being a ninja or not, I still don't know"

After Naruto finished, Keiko couldn't look at him in the face for a while. Dealing with adversities even before enrolling at the shinobi academy was something no kid should've been subjected to and Naruto had to deal with the entire village's hatred.

"Well, my life wasn't entirely sad, I mean...after I graduated, I made some friends who saved me from myself and after a while, I met my girlfriend Anko, even if at the time, she was a proctor for my Chunnin Exams. Now, all of that is behind me now and I've moved on. Boy, who's hungry, I bet you're starving, I'll go look for something that we can eat, so stay right here, okay"

After the blond left, while remembering to leave a kage bunshin near Keiko at all times, in case of some Kiri ninjas, Keiko was left alone for a while to think about the Konoha Jounin. She always respected Konoha's strength in the past, seeing it as very different from the Bloody Mist as her villager was commonly known for, but to treat a child this way wasn't human...wasn't human at all. She jerked her neck, suddenly, when she heard heavy footsteps, but she relaxed when Naruto appeared...with a dead javelin on his shoulder.

"Hope you're not a vegetarian, lady Keiko, because this javelin gave me quite a rush. Ten kunais on his back and the damn animal wouldn't budge. Well, how you like your meet?"

"Well-done, please Naruto, who knows where this animal has been?" - Joked Keiko, now feeling strangely comforted around the blond, who in the meantime was gathering some wood to start a fire. Naruto smile and made the hand signs for the easiest katon jutsu he learned under Kyuubi's guidance and gathered a small quantity of air inside his lungs.

_**Katon Endan **(Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu)_

The flame was a little bit stronger than he intended and he cursed his poor chakra control at the moment. Nevertheless, the fireplace was created and his kodashi was responsible for cleansing the animal's remains, before slicing him to pieces and placing it on top of the fire to start the cooking. After a while, he just handed Keiko's well-done meat and she accepted graciously before she dig in like a mad person.

If Naruto was surprised, he didn't show it, but the woman was done in seconds, before she massaged her stomach in utter satisfaction. It was worse when she started licking her greasy fingers and Naruto could see some saliva leaving her mouth.

"I can see you enjoyed It, care for another piece, I have two more if you so wish" - Smiled Naruto.

"No thank you, this tank is already full, It was quite delicious nonetheless. Next time you're making a barbecue, please send me an invitation. I'll come running from Kirigakure in a minute"

And so, the two talked for a while, until fatigue reached Keiko's doorstep and she slept. Naruto kept awake in order to do some meditation in preparation for the upcoming fight. His chakra control was improving, but nowhere near how it was supposed to be, in order for him to survive out there against those Kiri-nins.

* * *

**===Next day===**

When Naruto opened his eyes, instead of the sun entering the cavern, Naruto was feeling a shadow in front of him, blocking the sun light. Looking up, he saw the woman under his protection standing in all her glory, presumably waiting for him to wake up, so that they could continue the journey.

"Rise and shine sleepy-head, we're late as it is, let's go"

The blond wasn't too thrilled to see that Keiko was suffering from the same disease that affected Gai and Lee back in Konoha, but he got up nonetheless. He sure would kill himself if Keiko muttered the worlds 'youthful' and 'morning' right now.

"Easy there, Keiko. From here on out, only Anbu and Seven Swordsmen level will appear, we must tread a steady course of action"

All felt in deaf ears, though, as Keiko smiled before marching forward the cave exit.

"You better stay together Naruto, or else you'll be left behind..." - Smiled Keiko.

She, then, jumped at the nearest tree heading for the Mist Village, while the blond murmured some curse words, before following close to her. Within seconds, he was right by her side, jumping through the trees.

"Pay attention Naruto, three Anbus in front of us closing fast...let's take them out fast and continue our journey"

"You talk as if you're the one handling the mission and I'm the one being protected...uh..whatever"

The Anbus charged against the two, but all they saw were the cold edge of Naruto and Keiko's sword thrusting into their necks with dead-like precision. Naruto, then, looked at the girl and really considered being scared a little bit. To be one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, one must have the skills of killing enemies with utmost efficiency and Naruto saw it first hand.

Suddenly, the two entered a clearing and started running for a while, until five Anbus showed up with the same man that send the poison to her system, Kurama in front of them.

"Well, Miss Keiko I was sure you'd be dead with the poison that was running through your veins, I'm impressed. Too bad, though, you wasted your second chance in life by dying right now"

Kurama, then, charged against the two within a second, but both Keiko and Naruto was ready since the Anbus followed Kurama with a joint attack. Both doing hand signs, followed by Naruto landing his hands on the ground and Keiko just standing there manipulating the ice around her.

_**Hyoton **__**Koori Shuriken **__(Ice Release: Ice Shuriken Jutsu)_

_**Doton Tetsuryuudan **__(Earth Release: Iron Dragon Projectile Jutsu)_

The ice shurikens managed to hit the Anbus and Naruto's iron projectiles forced Kurama to dodge them while snarling as the Anbus fell on the ground dead. While looking, he spotted Keiko's shurikens imbedded on their necks. Cursing the damn training this poor souls had back in Kirigakure, Kurama decided to use the technique that made him famous.

_**Suiton Suishouha **__(__Water Release: Tidal Wave Jutsu)_

The man gathered what appeared to be a water typhoon around him, before using a great amount of chakra to shot the gathered water towards his enemies. Naruto, though, wasn't fazed by it as he focused on the ram seal and gathered mud inside his mouth, before exhaling it on the ground.

_**Doton Doryuu Heki **__(Earth Release: Mud Barrier Jutsu)_

As the wave approached, the sudden earth wall materialized from the mud on the ground, protecting Naruto and Keiko for a while, before the wave appeared from their left flank. It didn't matter, though, as the technique bought them the time needed; instantly, they jumped towards the next tree and both of them charged at Kurama, Naruto being the fastest of the two, before he took the katana off the holster and prepared to attack the man.

_**Konoha R**__**yuu Mikadzuki no Mai **__(Leaf Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon)_

Keiko was surprised when Naruto suddenly divided in two clones as he approached Kurama from both flanks, but the man was already waiting for an attack either from the left of the right. However, much for both Keiko and Kurama's shock, neither one was the real Naruto, but the one descending from the air, before he managed to land a diagonal attack on Kurama with his katana with enough force that the branch he was standing on broke from the impact. Kurama landed on the ground like a dead corpse, as he was killed the moment Naruto finished his attack.

Keiko spotted the big slash on Kurama's skin and the lifeless white color of the man's eyes, showing that he was dead even before he hit the ground.

Looking at the blond next to her, she sighed in resignation for a moment. Kurama's death was better to be avoided, even if he turned out to be a no good traitor. Now, the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist registered another loss and the Mizukage ended up winning either way. Nevertheless, she guessed that it was better him getting killed then he killing her, so letting another sigh, before she did to Kurama what everyone of the Seven Swordsmen does before a fallen comrade...mutter a silent prayer, before cutting the man's head off and getting rid of the body so that no enemy villages can capture and do experiments on him.

"I'm sorry about killing him, Keiko. But your safety is my top priority at the moment and we just couldn't handle the man landing another one of his poisons on you...that would delay our trip"

The woman nodded and smiled at the blond.

"Don't worry about it, Kurama was one of us, but he always was greedy. I never fully trusted him, but he was one of the Seven and without him, it counts as a victory for the Mizukage". Slicing his head off, Keiko asked for Naruto to torch his body to which the blond did without question.

Naruto, for his part, knew the Kage's plan which was use one of the Swordsmen to kill another swordsman before killing the traitor, thus getting rid of two of them with one swoop. Only a crook would do this and Naruto was muttering some bad words for the man.

Nevertheless, they couldn't stop here as Naruto could feel a high contingent of enemy shinobi up ahead and they needed to leave quickly.

"Keiko, we must go, the sooner we leave, the sooner we arrive at Kirigakure and get you to safety"

The woman nodded and got up before cleansing her kodashi with some water. Immediately, they charged once more towards the Mist Village, until they managed to reach a cliff. Looking forward, Keiko was beginning to feel hopeful as they could see the village in the horizon. No doubt, it will be tough to arrive at the gates, but Keiko didn't intend to arrive through the city gates, rather a nice short cut only known to the Seven Swordsmen and since Kurama is dead, no one would know where to look.

The only problem was that in order to reach the hidden passage, she knew that at least fifty or so shinobis would stand in their path and she doubted if both her and Naruto would come out of this alive. Truth be told, the woman wished she'd never leave this place for two reasons: first, her people needed her most and any sort of political arrangement for the future could wait a month or two and second was the blond next to her. The blond's clothes, like hers, were ruined because of fighting for so long and a couple of bruises were visible on his arms and legs like her as well. To this point, Keiko didn't understand if Naruto was going thus far for the sake of the mission or for the sake of helping her, but she didn't care much. It was because of him, not Konoha, that she managed to get here and her confidence was coming back to her...they would manage to reach the hidden passage alive.

"Naruto, i know that this isn't over yet, but I want to say thank you for everything you did for me and for my village. I'm in great debt with you..." - Said Keiko.

"Don't mention it, I'm doing this because of how high is your resolve to help those you care for, I said it before and I'll say it now, this is exactly how a Kage must act. I only ask that you send me an invitation when you take the Mizukage's throne and we'll be even" - Smiled Naruto, earning a nod in satisfaction from Keiko.

Suddenly, the sound of cannon echoed throughout the valley which alerted the two individuals, before they looked at the sky. To their horror, the number of projectiles was big enough to block the sunlight's path. However, Naruto and Keiko had to move quickly or else they'd be impaled so many times, even the sharingan wouldn't be able to count.

Taking their swords, they charged to the left, thus escaping from the position where the projectiles would hit, while slicing the few remains that would manage to imbed in their bodies.

After all of it landed on the ground, Naruto and Keiko began moving forward while focusing chakra to their feet for speed, thus escaping from the cannon's reach. Another shot was heard and a couple of them hissed near Naruto's left arm aside from the ones he managed to deflect with his two swords. Keiko was faring much better, because her style focused more on speed than strength, so she just looked as the kunais passed through her before imbedding on the ground. After the second horde of projectiles, she took one to inspect and was surprised to see that it was poisoned.

"Naruto…"

"Let me guess, poisoned weapons as well. Geez, the Mizukage sure wants you dead. We'll have to be wary of those projectiles, how much longer is the secret passage?" – Asked Naruto.

Keiko positioned herself behind the tree so that no projectile would harm her as she eyed her partner.

"It's not far from here, actually. However, we'll only hear one more shot until the entire force comes after our heads; any ideas? – Asked Keiko.

Naruto indeed had one last move up his sleeve; in fact it was the first jutsu he ever learned since leaving the academy. For a while, he sought never to depend too much on his doppelgangers, but now the strategy here was to attract attention so Kage Bunshins would do the job like no other technique as his disposal.

"Keiko, I have an idea, but in order for it to work, we'll have to change course a little bit" – Said Naruto, confusing Keiko, but he continued nonetheless. "After the last horde of projectiles, we'll change our course and proceed for the secret passage by taking a different route. Meanwhile, a personal technique of mine will keep the Anbus occupied, giving us plenty of time to enter the village without anyone seeing us.

The woman was skeptic at the blond's plan. Fighting an entire contingent of Anbus wasn't something to be treated lightly, but Naruto's plans and abilities managed to get her until this point and she would be damned not to trust him now of all times. She just hoped beyond hope that his plan would come to fruition. Out of the blue, the same noise once more shooting the last barrage of projectiles, before Naruto and Keiko escaped its reach. Naruto and Keiko were performing a terrific dance as they sliced the incoming projectiles with relative ease and a few minutes later, the last projectiles went through a tree in front of Naruto and stopped, serving as a signal for the blond's plan to initiate.

"Keiko, go right now to the hidden passage, I'll follow you shortly…_**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **__(Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu)"_

His partner was already on the way, before she turned and had the decency to gasp. In front of her, were not one Naruto, but hundreds of him, maybe thousand…it was unbelievable the amount of chakra this man possesses. Suddenly, the real one or at least Keiko considered it the real one came next to her, shouting for her to move while the blond clone army charged against the incoming Anbu, stopping them dead on his tracks as they dealt with this strange menace that appeared out of nowhere. Meanwhile, Naruto and Keiko sent chakra to their feet, thus charging towards the secret passageway, until they landed in a clearance.

Naruto was questioning what the hell, before Keiko began a huge series of hand seals, giving the impression that the passageway was hidden by a genjutsu. Suddenly, a big hole on the ground materialized as Keiko and Naruto went inside, before the genjutsu was up again. The hole, Naruto reasoned, was the end of what appeared to be a tunnel, presumably built below the water as Naruto could see some water droplets threatening to enter the tunnel.

"We built this tunnel to prevent the Mizukage from knowing where we the Swordsmen were. It also serves as a failsafe in case we are forced to flee"

Keiko looked at the blond nodding and she couldn't help but smile at the blond…his plan was ingenious, although chakra consuming at the very least. Looking forward, Keiko smiled upon seeing the man responsible for her group standing at the end of the tunnel with a smile on his face. Naruto, for his part, saw the man also and wondered who he was, but if Keiko was so excited to see him, maybe he is one of the Seven Swordsmen as well. As the two stopped running, Naruto could fully describe the man. Black robes with fishnet shirt underneath, blue hair, the man was wearing earrings attached to what appeared to be seals and Naruto could feel only confidence exuding from his posture.

"Keiko, I'm glad you're okay, we heard rumors that the Mizukage was aware of you leaving the village, but I see that no force of his was able to bring you down…and how might you be?"

Naruto found it kind of funny how despite the man's powerful demeanor could show so much care for Lady Keiko. However, this was not the time for amusement as now started Naruto's secondary mission which involved telling a different story about him in order to wipe any suspicion of the village's involvement in this manner and the blond already had the perfect background to tell.

"Name's Kaze, Miss Keiko here hired me to protect her back to her home village…didn't expect that she rolled like this…hehehe. Lady Keiko, last time you require my services, I only ask that you give me more information about it…man, getting poisoned it's never a good thing, I'll tell you"

It helped that Naruto possessed a characteristic for creativity as his explanation was enough to grant some mumblings from Ao in front of him. Actually, Naruto was prepared for this by Keiko herself. Ao, while a good hearted individual, wasn't much talkative, thus he wasn't very friendly to those who just couldn't shut the hell up.

"Ao-sama, Kaze here is a mercenary…in my travels; I saw him taking care of some goons and hired him to escort me here. Thanks to him, I managed to get here rather unscathed; even though he was right…getting poisoned it's never a good thing"

The man seemed to accept the explanation, because he turned and walk away, leaving the two alone to finish their business. Keiko, then, smiled and turned to Naruto who was smiling as well.

"I appreciate all you did for me Naruto and I hope to repay you in the future" – Said Keiko.

"Just send me the invitation when you receive the Kage's thrown and we're even, now I must return Lady Keiko. It was a pleasure fighting alongside you"

Keiko nodded while seeing the blond give his back to her and getting back on the tunnel.

"Naruto, have a safe trip back home, don't get yourself in trouble…" – Smiled Keiko, earning a nod from Naruto.

"Don't worry about me; I'm already safe without you around…" – Joked Naruto.

Naruto found it amusing, but the snort coming from the woman showed that she wasn't particularly thrilled. Nevertheless, she smiled at his fading form, before he disappeared inside the tunnel. Without a doubt, Konoha couldn't have sent a better man for the job.

* * *

**===In Konoha===**

Two days after Naruto left Kirigakure, Tsunade was busy looking through some documents regarding a trade with Takigakure. Fire Country's wood was pretty much demanded by other countries to a point that cities would consider paying double the normal retail price for it. It was actually one of the reasons why Fire Country's economy was top-notch.

Suddenly, a knock was heard and Shizune entered, delivering today's mission reports.

"Thank you Shizune, you can leave those at the pile on the left and I'll take a look after this"

Shizune could see how busy the blond woman because not once did she stopped reading the agreement, after all Konoha always ended up being involved because Tsunade, then, had to assign a team of chunnins in order to assist with the wood transportation, however one thought still plagued her mind and that involved a certain blond which happened to be sent into a freaking war zone all for Kirigakure to join in a peace treaty with Konoha and Suna in the future. He left a week ago and since he went disguised as a mercenary, no information could be given to the Hokage, from fear of Kirigakure intercepting.

Tsunade wondered why the woman in front of us stopped in front of her before she realized that Shizune was spacing out about something.

"What is it Shizune? What's on your mind?" - Asked Tsunade.

"I'm concerned for Naruto-kun's well being, Kirigakure shinobis are vicious; I just hope he can return soon. Do you have any word on him?" - Asked Shizune.

"I'm sure the gaki will be fine, he's not the same as he once was you know. He'd never take unnecessary risk against such a powerful adversary like Kirigakure. Besides, Jiraiya was here moments ago saying that he was successful in improving the seal that holds the fox at bay. According to him, the seal will now absorb more of its chakra, giving him even more than he already have..."

Tsunade would have completed her explanation, but an Anbu suddenly materialized inside her office with an announcement that tranquilized both her and Shizune.

"Tsunade-sama, I'm here to announce that jounin Uzumaki Naruto has just arrived at the village and it's arriving here any minute now"

After delivering the message, the Anbu disappeared within a shunshin, thus leaving two smiling females, just waiting for Naruto to arrive, when a knock was suddenly heard. As Tsunade gave the proper authorization, the blond entered her office this time with the standard Konoha Jounin-attire. Both medic-nins have enough experience to spot bruises and flesh wounds from a mile away and there wasn't a single spot on his body that It wasn't neither bloody or bruised.

"I guess that by the way you look, Kirigakure gave you a run for your money, huh?" - Manifested Tsunade with her hand holding her head appearing quite bored at her situation.

"Understatement of the year, Tsunade-sama. Nevertheless, Lady Keiko is now safely within the confines of the Mist Village and the mission was a success. Here is the written report of everything that happened. Keiko only asked that this report is to remain a well-hidden secret, because it involve a highly detailed description of their forces and some their skills, even some relevant events that I rather not say out loud"

Naruto, then, handed the report to Tsunade, who nodded at the woman's request and gave it to Shizune to guard it at her personal vault. Shizune nodded and left the premises, leaving the two blonds alone inside the room.

"Naruto...during your mission, Jiraiya had a little encounter with Itachi and Kisame and they presented troubling news...news that I believe you'll have to be aware of, if what they said turns out to be true."

The younger blond noticed the seriousness in her tone of voice and listened intently. After all, what about Akatsuki that isn't serious? Suddenly, the toad Sannin appeared out of nowhere inside the Hokage's Office and joined Tsunade's side.

"Hohoho, Naruto, how are you doing? Words are out there that Kirigakure had some trouble with a certain blond individual. Wonder if they will manage to track the info all the way to Konoha?" - Asked Jiraiya.

"There won't be an issue, only Keiko knows of me being a Jounin for Konoha and the others believe I'm some mercenary she hired to escort her back to the Mist Village. And even she won't risk telling the truth from fear of being discredited towards her peers of the Seven Swordsmen"

Tsunade smiled at the shrewd observation and smiled even more when Jiraiya was convinced as well.

"Now, Naruto, I'm sure you're curious about what the Akatsuki wanted to talk about, but first I want you to know that we're not going to negotiate with them, no matter what the cost is...."

"Let me guess...hand in the demon brat and Konoha won't be harmed..." - the look on the sannin's faces told him that he was right. "Surely originality isn't their best characteristic. Nevertheless, you could say they are a bit late to deliver this threat to us..."

"Why do you say that, Naruto? - Asked Tsunade, worried about what the blond would say next. Yes, the seal alteration worked, but at the time, Tsunade scowled Jiraiya for being once again so reckless with such a sensitive manner. Certainly, no one could predict what would happen once Jiraiya altered the seal and it certainly could bite Konoha in the ass if Kirigakure realized the truth about the one who helped Keiko return to the village. Also, by the way Naruto was looking at Jiraiya, she was sure he already knew what happened. But no way was she prepared for what she was about to hear.

"The fox is now gone...."

Utter shock soon followed...

* * *

**===With Anko===**

Looking at her apartment's window, Mitarashi Anko was bored out of her mind. Her presence at the Torture and Interrogation Department was fun and the time passed when she was having fun, but the number of captured enemies severely decreased and Ibiki said he didn't need her help for the time being.

It was worse since Kurenai was away on a mission with two other chunnins and wouldn't be arriving for at least another day. She missed her boyfriend, she missed him badly. She got over the feeling of jealousy for that girl Naruto was hired to escort to the Mist, but without him around, time just wouldn't pass the same way. It was like with him gone, a part of her was missing and she hated this feeling. The woman was startled by a sudden knock on the door, before she grumbled in annoyance.

Nevertheless, maybe scaring this person to death could cheer her up a little bit. Grabbing a kunai and losing her trench coat, she, then, answered the door with the kunai on her mouth in a threatening manner, clearly caught by surprise when she saw who was at the door.

"Here was I hoping for a warm welcome by my gorgeous girlfriend, only to find said person wanting to kill me. Hello Anko-chan, I'm home at last"

Naruto was caught by surprise when Anko hugged him utmost intensity, before ushering him inside with her left arm, before her hand slowly reached for his ass, before she grabbed with force while caressing her lips with her tongue in excitement.

No doubt, an Anko bored is an Anko horny. Naruto was already used to the signs his girlfriend sent when she wanted something. She would look at her stomach with a pleading look when she carved the sweet taste of dango sticks, when she wanted Naruto to join her for a shower, she would massage his shoulders for a while, before passing her finger on his neck. At now, she would perform obscene activities when she wanted nothing more than be trashed in bed like squeezing Naruto's ass for instance or whisper dirty talk close to his ear in public.

Naruto understood the message right away and turned to meet Anko eye to eye, before it became mouth to mouth. Anko hugged the blond intensely, while massaging the back of his hair, because she know this would trigger the animal that resides within his body, trapped in a cage waiting for Anko to slip in the key and release.

Truth to her pretension, Naruto shivered and smiled at his girlfriend from knowing which buttons to press. The woman's hormones increased as she realized the pure look of lust displayed by her boyfriend, more like promising utter bliss and excitement, which was exactly what she wanted, more than once if she had enough energy by the time Naruto Is done with her.

Much to her satisfaction, the blond's hands grabbed her breasts, massaging her nipples as well. Anko loved to be teased by the blond; ever time he managed to make her relax and just enjoy as his hands and tongue would rub her entire body, sending wave after wave of utter pleasure through her system. And Naruto always did something she'd never expect with her and today was no exception.

He grabbed her fishnet shirt with both hands and with rage; he ripped it all while focusing his eyes of lust straight at her now uncovered breasts. Just the act alone caused her to shiver in excitement, but Naruto also started massaging downstairs, which caused Anko to bend over feeling even hornier than before. Naruto, for his turn, only smiled at the reaction he was causing on his girlfriend as her eyes would roll over from time to time.

_'You know Anko-chan, ever since I left the village, I was carving for pleasuring you like this...hearing you delicate moans echoing throughout my ears, feeling your inner walls contort in pleasure as my...you know...entered.._

Those words were now registered in her mind as her body was slowly but surely succumbing to the desires of the flesh. Now, though, she lost all control over her urges and grabbed Naruto's clothes.

"You owe me too much for leaving the entire week, now you come here and break all my barriers with ease; take all your clothes and have your way with little old me, Naruto-kun"

Anko, then, pushed Naruto on top of the bed with force as she helped him take off his clothes, before jumped on top of him once more, before landing a ravaging kiss on his lips, while with her free hands, started groping his penis, causing Naruto to stiff below her.

"_Surely, it's itching to have some quality time with you...my hime..._

It was everything Anko needed to hear, before she lost her head and positioned her inner walls right on top of his member...

_**(AN: Certainly, people will curse me for what I'm about to do, but I'll stop the lemon right here. Certainly, those with a perverted mind will be able to fill in the blanks)**_

* * *

**===At the Hokage's office===**

Tsunade and Jiraiya were taken aback the moment Naruto dropped the bomb. Certainly, this complicated things greatly. Jiraiya never thought that by altering the seal like that would go as far as eliminate the fox's existence, but now that Naruto explained, it all made sense. Kyuubi is a being made solely on energy, so if the seal managed to absorb it all, then surely the fox would be gone as a result.

The problem now lied with Akatsuki...because now they would have to tread their course with caution. Would they believe that the fox was completely absorbed by the seal and leave Konoha alone or try capturing the blond either way, leveling Konoha to the ground, afterwards?

Both Tsunade and Jiraiya was at a loss of what course to take, but right now nothing could be decided. They would need to see what occurs next and play along with it for the mean time.


	25. Akatsuki Wars: The Beginning

_**Author Note: **__Hello fellow readers, I'm back from vacation and I can say a few things about the cities I visited in the U.S. First, Las Vegas (no words...gambling, alcohol and entertainment); Los Angeles (nice town, though I stayed in Santa Monica) and San Francisco (one of US's best towns to consider a second home together with Boston)._

_Now, I have a lot of new ideas for my stories, lots of new jutsus for you guys and, as usual, lots and lots of action. _

_Furthermore, I've been checking some profiles of my favorite fan fiction writers and one writer in specific asked an interesting question, as follows. _

_Have you ever wondered "Who is the hottest, sexiest, most beautiful girl ever created in the world of anime?" Well now's your chance to vote for your own Top 10. Kingkakashi besides having a great story, he has set-up a poll about this very question on his profile page. Help answer and settle this issue once and for all._

_Well, check his profile and take a look at the list. _

_Now, on to a new chapter of Tired…Like said before, with the end of the Kirigakure arc, a new one begins now. I won't say more, because in my opinion, you'll know once you start reading it._

* * *

**Chapter 25 – Akatsuki Wars – the beginning**

**Beta: Dreetje**

* * *

Two months passed without much trouble for Konoha, considering that Akatsuki didn't show their faces, even though Itachi and Kisame's warning was threatening. The weather in Fire Country was a bit clouded, but otherwise warm as Uzumaki Naruto was returning to the village together with three genins.

Why?

Well, certainly Naruto normally wouldn't bother tutoring a bunch of genins for a while, but as he heard the group complaining time and time again about when their sensei would be coming back, the blond really felt like shoving a Rasengan up Aoi's ass and prank the Hokage for assigning him to take the man's team while he was stuck with a diplomatic B-ranked mission towards Waterfall Country.

It wasn't enough that he explained the reason behind Aoi's missing, the group still pressed on, because apparently Naruto wasn't good enough to take care of some brats throughout a no-good C-ranked document retrieval mission that later proved to be a D-ranked mission outside the village, since it didn't take much time nor effort to find the missing scroll the client was looking for. Studying the group of genins, although they could be incredibly loud and obnoxious, the blond couldn't help but be impressed by their skills both at the mission at hand as well as handling the couple bandits that showed up.

Like all the genin teams in Konoha, this wasn't special at first. Two boys and a girl, the three talking between themselves about Aoi-sensei and the missions they undertook so far. None of the three belonged to any special clan as that happened to be Aoi's only request when Tsunade asked him to take a genin team. The girl Kaoro was the team leader, tough, strong, though her feminine side was still present. Raven long hair and dark brown eyes, she wore a gray kimono with a black belt strapped to her belt. Her abilities revolved some heavy taijutsu with excellent weapon accuracy, though her ninjutsu is nothing to be laughed at as well. Although she is still due to use elemental ninjutsu, her repertoire was enough to warrant respect.

The kid on her left side, Taki, was the ninjutsu specialist of the group and, to Aoi's expertise, quite efficient in doton ninjutsu. His clothes were rather simple; gray pants and a fishnet shirt covered by black shirt. Taki happened to be the one to whom Naruto couldn't stand the most. The others bugged him as well, but Taki won the competition. The reason was because Aoi promised to teach him a new jutsu after their last mission and since the man left for waterfall village, he didn't have time to teach Taki, so the bugging boy took up to bug Naruto, instead.

The last member of the team was the reserved and quiet one, quite like Aburame Shino, although he also bugged the blond with questions of his sensei. Aoshi was his name and he always kept his hands inside his pockets, looking forward. He used a black cargo pants with a blue coat like the one Inuzuka Kiba used when he was a genin, but without the hood. Aoshi was the one who asked the last question about Aoi that Naruto managed to answer without letting his emotions dictate his behavior.

"Excuse me Naruto-taichou, but since Aoi-sensei left and won't be around for quite some time, will you teach us in his stead?

The question itself was innocent enough and didn't carry any intention of bugging, but after a huge load of questions being bombarded towards the blond, it became too much for Naruto to handle.

"Okay, that's it. This is the last time I'll explain to you three and I'll just ignore the rest of the questions pertaining Aoi's position as your sensei. Yes Aoshi, he'll take at least one more month to return, so I will be your jounin senseis in the mean time. After we return to the village, your team won't receive any missions for two weeks, so I can train you guys in Aoi's stead. Now, we still have one hour left to arrive, so I'd appreciate if you three just talked amongst yourselves, okay?"

Kaoro and Aoshi snorted and remained quiet for the duration of the trip, but Taki just showed a smile that Naruto recognized all too well. He now learned that this little punk was the prankster of the group and all he wanted was to get a rise out of their temporary sensei…

* * *

**===In Konoha===**

Once inside the village, Naruto and his temporary team delivered the mission report, before being dismissed for the day. He ordered the team to report to Training Ground 7 tomorrow at eight, before going home to rest a bit. The mission wasn't tiring in the least, but handling the three was something he never expected when taking a team. He was starting to respect Kakashi-sensei even more for having to hear him, Sasuke and Sakura bugging each other all the time.

Taking his boots and positioning by the table in front of the couch, the blond positioned his hands to support his head as he rested his legs on top of the table, while the entire time looking at the ceiling, more specifically, the slowly turning fan that managed to cool the temperature inside his apartment. Taking control of his breathing, Naruto diverted his eyes to the window for a moment and was marveled at the sight of the horizon, which composed the entire village buildings with the west gate at the end. The sun was almost setting and he was just content with taking a sleep right there on the couch, when his senses were haywire out of a sudden.

He felt the all too familiar sensation of some outside chakra source invading his own, meaning he was under the effects of a genjutsu. Swiftly and silently, he picked a kunai and just waited for the attacker to show his face. The situation was becoming stranger by the minute as he realized he was getting somewhat entangled. The problem with genjutsu is that a master could attack every part of the opponent's body as well as lure to all kinds of traps. Out of the blue, though, the blond felt…aroused. His hormones were sending suggestive images to his brain, images that he just couldn't shake off and that was bad (he was a guy after all…)!

He could feel his pants bulging and his member begging for some air and his breathing was changing. However, despite the sudden feeling, his memory didn't fail him as he remembered something his girlfriend mentioned a couple days ago. Something about spicing their already heated relationship didn't escape from him and he suddenly smiled as he looked around the room a bit. His senses, suddenly, picked things that he didn't notice before…or didn't feel the need for it; he could smell some candles coming from the room merged with Anko's perfume. Smiling a bit further and deciding to play along with her choice of…spice things up.

His vision became obscured by a shadow that suddenly appeared in front of him as the shadow started walking towards the blond while swinging the rips in a sexual manner. The blur, after seconds, started to show its appearance. It begun with the legs until he recognized the black lingerie straps; afterwards he looked up to see the danger looking panties followed by a slightly defined abdomen, quality of a trained kunoichi, not overly ripped, but well-defined, perfect to describe the beauty of the body in front of him that slowly materialized. Now, the well-developed breasts showed themselves, half hidden by a black leader bra that spoke nothing but danger.

When her gorgeous face and beautiful purple hair appeared in his view, he could feel that the genjutsu stopped, but its effects wasn't that easy to were off as his member was fully erected and his intention was too obvious to his deviously-smiling girlfriend. Anko, for her part, smiled at how well executed her plan was and now she had her boyfriend's undivided attention.

"Well, Naruto-kun, you seemed a little tensed. Certainly, I could….ease that tension for you, if you so wish"

Naruto smiled as he got up from the couch and approached the sexy woman with a smile on his face that made Anko shiver in delight. As a devious person as well as Naruto, Anko just loved to see that smile that would look at her with a predatory smile on his face. As Naruto stopped in front of her, he wrapped his arms around her, before slowly and surely bending his neck in order to deliver a soft kiss on her lips. As the lips connected, at first it wasn't any passion, it was exactly what a 'couple' would do with each other, and was exactly what Anko loathed with time. However, quite surprisingly and equally arousing, she could feel Naruto's tongue locking with hers with unprecedented speed, pretty much jump starting her hormones into over-drive.

His right hand suddenly left her back and got into her large breast, before massaging it, while at the same time passing his tongue throughout her neck region, earning moans of excitement from the snake jounin. However, Anko couldn't be described as an entirely submissive girl as her hands touched Naruto's chest, before slowly sliding it down his well-toned abdomen, remembering how it felt to pass her hands without any clothes. A few minutes passed and her hands were caught massaging his already erected member, earning a light loss of breath coming from Naruto.

"You sure love it, don't you Naruto-kun, how I massage it…how I play with it" – Anko said, earning a smile from Naruto as he nodded.

"Just as much as you adore when I take off your bra….like this" – Naruto said as he quickly removed the straps of the bra behind her back, as he looked at her face with his deep blue eyes. "Before I start….."

As the blond began licking Anko's nipples, his ears were delighted to hear the sudden loss of breath coming from Anko followed by a slight body shivering. As in being controlled by someone, Anko's hands moved towards Naruto's waist, before taking his pants down, releasing his member. Looking at her in momentary surprise, Anko got up again and whispered close to his ear, in a sexy voice.

"I'm done with the preliminaries Naruto, I want you inside me and I want it now"

"Well, my dear loving girlfriend, I have nothing stopping me, it's you, though, that is still due to take something off, so what do you say we take those panties off"

As Naruto took Anko's panties down, Anko could feel her anxiety at feeling Naruto inside her. Afterwards, Anko pushed her lover to the couch once more, before she proceeded to sit on top of him as she began to entice him by licking his neck and ear in a crazy pattern, indicating her total loss of control of the entire situation. It didn't take much before the woman grabbed her lover's hard cock and placed inside her, before she, slowly, went all the way down, breathing erratically as Naruto's member filled her inside all the way.

Naruto chose that moment to bit Anko's nipples, thus increasing the sensation of ecstasy and total bliss of Anko. The constant movement became quicker and the room temperature increased, earning moan noises coming from both Naruto and Anko. The snake jounin, as each up and down movement, started moaning erratically, indicating how much aroused she was as Naruto increased the feeling by adding a few movements of his own.

"Oh sweet kami Anko-chan, this is so good"

She was too much focused on taking full advantage of the situation that she chose to respond with a loud moan as Naruto's member went fully inside her, reaching her inner walls. Sooner, Naruto increased the movement, to which Anko enjoyed, before placing her hands on his knees, increasing her hips movement, earning some moaning, this time, from Naruto as he felt his cock being squeezed by her inner organs.

In little to no time, the moaning increased as both Naruto and Anko were about to have an orgasm. By now, Naruto's cock were minutes away from losing control and ejaculating inside Anko and the woman, for her time, was feeling her inner walls caving due to the pressure. This time, though, it was Naruto who caved first, but he took it off, before spraying it all over her sexy body, earning moans of pleasure from Anko.

Naruto wasn't a selfish individual and he could feel that Anko was short of having an orgasm of her own. So, instead of stopping the act, which in Anko's position was enough to fulfill her wildest fantasies, the blond positioned his head in front of Anko's already wet pussy and started licking, alerting Anko a little bit, before a new sense of bliss returned full force. Turned out that, while she didn't want foreplays, she knew that Naruto's tong abilities were staggering, hence why she was squeezing his hair with utmost intensity as Naruto managed to reach her inner organs with his tongue, while licking hard and good. Within minutes, her breathing became uncontrollable and she started screaming Naruto's name and begging him not to stop. Finally, her control stopped cumming right on Naruto's face.

After the magnificent sex, in both's opinion, they were too exhausted to think of anything but sleep right there on the couch.

* * *

**===At Training Ground #7===**

The next day, the three genins of Aoi's team were slowly arriving at the training ground, only to find Naruto standing near the wood pillar in the middle…drooling. They looked at their temporary sensei with question about the time and found out that the last one to arrive only five minutes late, so it wasn't it. It didn't matter to Naruto; they might be genins but no one would even consider what happened to their sensei that took so much out of him last night.

Kaoro, being the team leader, chose to awake their sensei from his slumber, grabbing his vest and pushing a little bit, while calling the blond's name repetitive times. Suddenly, Naruto started opening his eyes a little bit, only to see a little girl looking at him. It took him a while to realize that his team was here. After a few seconds, Naruto's eyesight returned to him and saw the entire team looking at him.

"Oh…sorry about sleeping a bit; yesterday I decided to train a little bit, before going to sleep"

Naruto wasn't even interested in convincing his temporary team, but rather come up with something rather than humping his girlfriend's brains out. The look on their faces proved that they didn't buy it, but once again the blond wasn't obliged to tell the truth…even if he realized that both he and Anko could use this as a prank for later.

"Okay, as you three know, this team will be in Konoha until Aoi gets back, so I'm settled to train you three. But first of all, a small test is in order…"

Kaoro being the team leader asked the much waited question.

"What kind of test are you talking about? I believe we did a great number of tests and personally, I'm sick of the so called tests"

"Don't worry, this will be quite entertaining, I assure you. I was meaning to use our mission yesterday to gauge your strength both as a team and as individuals, but since it didn't require much, I don't know much about what each of you fair against a tougher opponent. And before you ask, Kaoro…" – Naruto interrupted the girl who was about to retort, before explaining the test. "I could very well read your files, but that wouldn't be enough to gauge what exactly you needed improving. The test it is simple enough…you three will participate in a fight against none other than myself"

The look of surprise was evident, but Naruto explained it a bit more.

"You three will fight me together with the intent to kill, I might add, because it's necessary. By doing this, I could see which area to focus on, got it. Now, as I'm sure Aoi taught you much about teamwork and that happens to be the first skill I'll be testing; then, individual skills; ninjutsu, taijutsu, weapon accuracy, genjutsu, etc. Any questions?"

This time, the prankster of the group raised his hand, much to Naruto's relief.

"Just tell me how you will avoid three attacks at the same time, since we'll be attacking with the intent to kill you…Aoi-sensei never went that far with us"

"I know it doesn't look much, but I'm a jounin, Taki. Trust me if a genin manages to kill me, it only serves to show that my skills were overestimated by the Hokage. Now, take your positions and let the fight begin…"

No sooner after Naruto authorized the battle to begin, the group scattered and found secure places to hide while observing the scenery a bit, much to Naruto's smirk and sudden memory of what he did when he was the one being tested by Kakashi-sensei. In no time at all, shurikens came flying from all over directions, as Naruto took two kunais and deflected them all, before seeing Taki attacking while at the same time doing hand seals for a simple clone jutsu. The blond saw the three Takis appear and charged at the same time, each focusing on different points. However, like Taki, Naruto used a simple jutsu of replacement the minute the real one punched in the face.

He could actually wait for the attack to come and simply block the punch, but he knew from the team's file, that Aoi drilled teamwork into their minds. The file proved correct as Kaoro was only waiting for Naruto to either defend the attack or evade, only for her to get behind his back and land a powerful strike. Instead, Kaoro found Naruto a few meters away and fired a couple shurikens at him. The problem, this time, was that unlike Taki, to whom Naruto would expect a ninjutsu from, Kaoro finished the snake hand seal and that meant trouble.

_**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Clone Jutsu)**_

Right before his eyes, the three shurikens became twenty as they charged Naruto with utmost efficiency, aiming his vital points. Quickly focusing chakra to his feet, Naruto jumped high into the air, before seeing the smirk displayed on Kaoro's face. Looking up, the blond saw the third member of the team doing hand seals, but the problem was the last seal that Naruto saw…Tiger.

_**Katon Karyuudan no Jutsu (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Projectile Jutsu)**_

Naruto knew that Aoshi knew a few fire jutsus, but the strategy alone earned points for the team. As the fire stream neared the still air born Naruto, he made no move to dodge the attack, before he was torched. The three sets of eyes suddenly lost color as they all concluded the same thing…we killed Naruto.

However, as they kept wondering about the repercussions of their act, no one saw the blond standing near the wooden pillars with his hands on his pocket.

"Lesson number one and that's a valuable one…" – Naruto said, drawing the team's attention, from thinking that he was dead from Aoshi's fire attack. "Unless you have actual proof that the enemy is killed, never relax your stances. For all you guys know I could've used some method of escaping undetected and kill all of you before you even realize it. Now, I don't remember saying that the test was over; you'll receive points for teamwork, but you all need more than that to impress me"

That comment alone was enough to anger the boys, though they all were relieved to see that Naruto wasn't killed. Charging once more, this time, bringing the big guns, Taki made a large series of hand seals, before slamming his hands on the ground just as both Kaoro and Aoshi jumped high to the air.

_**Doton Jishin no Jutsu (Earth Release: Earthquake Jutsu)**_

The entire ground started trembling, but Naruto already knew this strategy, so he jumped and met Aoshi and Kaoro halfway, stopping their plan. Seeing this, Kaoro used a tree for leverage as she tried meeting Naruto with a roundhouse kick, but the blond blocked with his right arm, before he threw her against Aoshi who was about to attack the blond from behind, all this before they reached the ground. Since Aoshi and Kaoro were on the ground, Taki charged Naruto once more this time with taijutsu, aiming some low kicks and high punches, to which Naruto just effortlessly dodged, before doing some back flips towards a big tree behind him.

Landing on top of a tree log, Naruto looked at the team in front of them as they looked at Naruto.

"You know, this test does also involve studying the opponent and understand his movement's pattern. Now, there is something quite peculiar about the moves I've chosen to fight the three of you. And as Aoi's students, I'm fairly certain that at least two of you figured out. Anyway can tell me what?"

Kaoro and Taki both showed signs of not knowing the answer to the question, but Aoshi knew and chose the moment to enlighten his teammates.

"Even after we attacked you so many times, the only move you've done so far was to either block or dodge our attacks. Not once did you attack either one of us…."

"I guess that you must be the brains behind this team…yes that was my intention at first. Testing your attacking capabilities as a team while only defending served to know your teamwork skills and some individual ones and I can already point some flaws that needs improvement, nevertheless I'll save them after the test is finished. This time, I won't be just evading your attacks, but attacking as well. I want to see both teamwork and individual skills as well, ready?"

The genins' sudden muscle tension proved that they were ready as the blond started some hand seals for a low-level suiton jutsu, one of the first that he learned so far.

_**Suiton Gyorai Shin (Water Release: Water Needles Jutsu)**_

The needles were in great quantity, but Naruto didn't add much speed to them, allowing the genins to avoid them all by focusing chakra to their feet and increase their evasive maneuver. Kaoro was the first that managed to get rid of her sense of needles, before throwing two kunais straight at Naruto, who in turn dodged the incoming projectiles and charged the girl with some low speed taijutsu, gauging her skills a bit. The two boys stepped away for a bit, allowing Kaoro and Naruto some room, while they exchanged some blows at one another. Eventually, as Kaoro tried to land a powerful kick on Naruto's face but failed, she did the unexpected in Naruto's position and took a kunai from underneath her clothes in order to attack Naruto while falling on the ground. The blond wasn't seeing the movement, until he spotted Kaoro's wrists only inches from reaching his side stomach.

Quite shocked at this girl's skills, Naruto managed to hold Kaoro's wrist one to seconds before it pierced Naruto's skin as dust rose on the air, because of their feet.

For a second there, nobody spoke anything as the scene stopped like a picture. Naruto was silently praising Kaoro's skills, but that wasn't his intention. It was always Aoi's intention to never praise the genins too much so as not to overinflate their egos. But that didn't mean he couldn't throw in some compliments.

"Kaoro, some nice movements right there, deception is one of the vital keys to being a good shinobi. Now, the text isn't over, come one. You two are stuck back there, attack me damn it"

As Naruto jumped backwards, he heard the peculiar sound of projectiles coming his way. Grabbing his kodashi, Naruto deflected them all, before positioning it inside the holster. He, then, charged at both Aoshi and Taki. Suddenly, Naruto saw both doing hand signs which caused a smile on Naruto's face.

_**Katon Karyuudan no Jutsu (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Projectile Jutsu)**_

_**Doton Doryuudan (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Projectile Jutsu)**_

The mud projectiles suddenly merged with the fire dragon, combusting as a result, increasing the attack potential. However, by this moment, Naruto was already making hand seals of his own for something that would hold the attack.

_**Suiton Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Barrier Jutsu)**_

The two males sighed once the water geyser appeared in front of Naruto, stopping their coordinated attack, but they saw Kaoro attacking him from behind, they held their breath in hopes of attacking Naruto once he moved to defend from the girl's attack. However, when Kaoro was about to deliver a solid strike at the jounin, she was shocked when her punch passed right through him, like he wasn't there in the first place. When she turned, Naruto was already there behind her and landed a somewhat low forced kick on her stomach, sending her skidding towards her teammates who in turn managed to grab from hitting the tree she was heading to.

The girl was stunned for a while that a jounin would attack a genin like this, but it didn't take a second for a smile to appear on her face. She always cursed her sensei for not landing a hit on her during their spars. At least, now she could feel what exactly is to face a jounin. As her team charged, Naruto smiled before making some hand seals and slamming both hands on the ground with force. The problem was that only Taki recognized the hand signs, but he couldn't stop in time.

_**Doton Kyoumou Jishin (Earth Release: Fierce Earthquake Jutsu)**_

Suddenly, the entire ground started shaking and the ground started to quiver under the force of the attack, up to the point of opening a crater. It was enough to take away the genins' balance entirely, allowing Naruto to charge them and land the same level of strike at all three of them, sending them to the ground hard.

"Okay, the test is over. There is no need for taking it much further. Now, take some rest while we talk about some of the things that we will be training until Aoi gets here".

After the genins seated in front of their temporary leader, the blond took a sit on top of a nearby rock, before looking at each of them for a moment.

"Right…just as your files predicted, your teamwork is off the charts, really commendable you three" – Naruto commended, seeing only smiles of pride in front of him, but now comes the fun part…at least for him. "Individual skills, though, it's a different case. Kaoro, your taijutsu skills are top-notch and with time and experience, it will only get better; however and this I picked up because I attacked you, you lack some defensive katas"

Seeing the girl's questioned look, Naruto decided to explain.

"I'll explain…in a fight, there are both offensive and defensive techniques, one just as important as the other. Now, you can't just focus on one of them simply because the enemies will canalize on it and attack accordingly. Your offensive capacity is off the charts, actually, but your defensive skills lack practice. Therefore, we'll focus mainly on that as well as some chakra control exercises"

The girl took it surprisingly well in Naruto's opinion, since from the file, she was rather proud of her skills. Little to Naruto's knowledge, Kaoro only listened to those she respected and the blond just now joined the list by not treating her differently than the boys in the squad. Next in Naruto's agenda was Taki.

"Taki, ninjutsu is your strength and I can see Aoi's tutelage on you, considering those high level jutsus you just performed. However, what I noticed is the speed in which you take to perform the hand signs accordingly. And Aoi actually already told you this right, so we'll focus on perfecting the hand signs as well as some chakra control exercises that will help you in the future. Course, I'll teach you a nice doton jutsu that will be quite handy in the future, but that will be later"

The prankster nodded, though he felt kind bad to hear this over and over again. He knew this flaw ever since the academy, but his high chakra capacity was enough to replace the need for perfect hand seals. Maybe the blond could help him this time. Last, but not least, Aoshi as Naruto looked at him for a while, without saying a word.

"Lastly, you Aoshi…though you do show a well-rounded skill, there is much you can improve. For instance, I noticed that you only used one fire jutsu so far and from the file, that is but the only one you know. So, I'll teach you one to increase your arsenal. Also, from the three, you seem to possess the better chakra control, so I'd suggest you study some genjutsu techniques as well. Being a long-range fighter, as I assume you are, require mastery over three essential skills; weapon accuracy, long-range ninjutsu and genjutsu. I happen to know one or two you could learn, but I lack the necessary knowledge to teach you properly"

As Aoshi nodded, Naruto invited the team for some lunch, before round two began; earning shouts of happiness from Kaoro and Taki and from Aoshi…'s protesting stomach.

_Yep…he's Shino alright. _– Thought Naruto as he leaded his team to a special place called ICHIRAKU RAMEN.

* * *

**===At the Hokage's Office===**

The Hokage's Office, place where the strongest and equally intelligent minds set foot in; the first Hokage Senju Hashirama, unbeatable with his wood ninjutsu and ability to control the bijuus; the second Hokage Senju Tobirama, Hashirama's brother and the best suiton master ever to grace the elemental nations' land; Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, rumored to master over a thousand jutsus and one of the sharpest minds ever to appear in Konoha, not to mention his heart of gold; the Forth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, truly the strongest shinobi in all the lands with his unparallel knowledge of both ninjutsu and fuuinjutsu. All four of them were known throughout the world for their great deeds and accomplishments.

And right now, nobody felt more pressured than the Fifth Hokage Senju Tsunade, Hashirama's granddaughter and one of the best medic-nins ever to grace the lands. For the past few months, Tsunade had doubled her efforts in maintaining her usual affairs concerning the village as well as make the one decision that could prove to be life-altering to Konoha and its citizens. Going through some ordinary paperwork, the blonde woman was feeling the usual headache she felt every day since the Akatsuki threat was brought by her teammate and one of the sannins, Jiraiya. A threat concerning one of Konoha's newest Jounin elite named Uzumaki Naruto and the damned beast that happens to reside within his stomach.

_Wait, right! The damn hairball isn't there anymore, Jiraiya tempered with the seal and Naruto ended up absorbing it entirely….dammit. _

She was feeling quite ashamed of herself right now, because she was actually thinking it would be better if Kyuubi was still among them. Of course, she should be considering what a blessing this has been for the ex-jinchuuriki, ever since he lost his bijuu. In the beginning, she worried that his skills would decrease in combat because of it and, maybe, his healing factor wouldn't be as active as before, nevertheless Naruto proved himself mission after mission that he was better off without the fox.

It wasn't to say that she didn't know her options. Yeah, she knew them and she dreaded each and every one of them, because from one point it would solve her issue, but on the other side, she would be sacrificing someone that, both as a mother and as Hokage, she just couldn't choose on her own. Either she protects the village or Naruto and as Hokage, she knew that she should always choose the former, but as a mother, she cares too much for him to let him go to fend himself against S-ranked criminals. Of course, there would be always a third option and that happened to be the one her advisors counted on her to choose…lock him inside the village at all costs and not let him leave, unless heavily guarded with the best that Konoha could offer.

Based on the blond's personality, she doubted Naruto would enjoy this idea. Actually, and what she feared, was that the blond would choose the village instead of himself. He would leave the village in a heartbeat if it meant he would be protecting it by doing so. He may have changed, Tsunade thought, but his heart for Konoha will never change, no matter what happens.

"You shouldn't think so hard Tsu-hime, calm down a bit and have some sake with me" – Shouted Jiraiya as he entered inside her office with a thud, surprising the blonde Hokage, before she looked down to her never-ending pile of paper work.

"Anything about the Akatsuki?" – Tsunade asked, though Jiraiya just nodded in the negative with a serious visage.

"They vanished once more, I'm afraid. Not even one of my spies managed to find out about their position so far. And from your face, I figure you're still thinking about what to do in this situation?

Normally, Tsunade would enjoy that smile on her teammate's face. It always managed to calm her down during troubling times, but now it wasn't helping her at all.

"I don't know what to do…either one of the three will involve us getting the bitter end of the stick and I fear that if I make the wrong change, it will come bite me in the end. I just know it…we choose the village, we lose the brat and, maybe, the best Hokage ever to appear, now that his chakra capacity is endless. We choose him, the village suffers for it. Last, we choose to lock him up and Akatsuki still comes here and ravages the place, not to mention Naruto himself wouldn't really appreciate the idea of others fighting for him"

As Tsunade laid out both her options and motives for not choosing any of them, Jiraiya listened to them all in silence, knowing that she was just searching her brain trying to find a way out. After se quieted down, she turned to the pervy sage.

"Do you think he could take them…you know…along with you, maybe Kakashi and Aoi as well?"

The question itself surprised Jiraiya a bit, but he gave some thought on it and actually found it acceptable in theory.

"I believe so, a couple of high-seasoned Anbus as well, would certainly be a key victory. However, there are members of that organization who has yet to show their real capabilities. Of course, Pein would be toughest opponent to face and Itachi as well. Kisame has yet to show his true strength, but I believe he won't be much of a hassle. Konan won't prove too much as well and Zetsu is known throughout the elemental nations as a spy for the group. Without much study, I would say Pein would be mine to face, considering the fact that he was my student and I know the Rinnegan, Kakashi would be better suited against Itachi, though he would require some assistance from Aoi. Naruto could be paired against Kisame, leaving Konan to a seasoned Anbu like either Yamato or Rikimaru"

Hearing Jiraiya speak, Tsunade was also thinking, but the pervert stopped his thinking and smiled at his teammate in a pathetic attempt to cheer her up.

"Say Tsunade, what you say we get the hell out of here and get some sake?"

"Jiraiya, are you nuts? I'm the Hokage; I can't just get out and get some sake in the middle of the afternoon. Have some respect for our shinobis in duty, will ya!..."

Minutes later, the very same woman was drinking an entire bottle of sake in one go, before slamming it on the table, which echoed throughout the entire bar along with an amused Jiraiya who wondered if the woman really should take her own words to heart and not drink straight from the bottle.

* * *

**===At Training Ground #7===**

Oblivious to the conversation between the Sannins, Naruto was busy training Aoi's genin team in order to correct some imperfections with their skills, while hoping to prove of use to his sensei that was busy in Waterfall Country dealing with diplomatic issues. All three of them were tough, in his opinion. Not once did they complain to his training methods even when he forced them to run an extra lap around the village, when he knew their muscles would say otherwise.

Right now, both Aoshi and Taki were attacking Kaoro in taijutsu, so that she could develop her defensive movements a bit more. Naruto knew why her skills were undeveloped in this regard and was because of an ancient and completely wrong assumption that men are tougher than woman. Probably, no one ever dared attacking her, rather focusing on the two male on her team, which in the end, let her free to attack the opponent without his awareness. Even Aoshi and Taki protested a little to Naruto's exercise until Kaoro started to be pissed at them, so they stopped. Still, Naruto could see that no one of them was going full out against Kaoro.

"Aoshi, Taki…either you start attacking her for real or I will stop training both of you and focus only on her"

The blond's heated message went through to the genin and both male froze at the concept of being neglected. Naruto wouldn't do that, since he was neglected by Kakashi when being a genin, but Kaoro needed to improve her skills, so unless these two attack her for real or she will end up dead when an experienced kunoichi attacks her. Kaoro, for her part, looked at the blond and nodded in appreciation, before using her forearm to defend a straight kick from Aoshi, now carried with more strength than before and Naruto saw this with a smile on his face.

"Kaoro, learn how to use the strength of the attacks for your advantage…" – Naruto shouted, stopping the fight as he approached the genins. "Usually, the opponent doesn't control the strength behind their strikes, so you could easily manipulate their strikes, either to throw them off balance or grapple the used limb and propel the enemy forward. For instance, Aoshi attack me once more with that same kick. Kaoro, pay attention…"

As Aoshi proceeded with the strike, the genins saw that Naruto slightly dodged to the side, avoiding the kick before he grabbed Aoshi's kick and flipped his body throwing him straight to the ground.

"This is an advanced move, I'm teaching here and it serves for you two as well. Learning how to capitalize at the opponent's momentum is, sometimes, the key to victory in battle. Now, let's continue with the exercise and I don't care if either of you go home with sore muscles, get a move on…"

Naruto sure was strict, they all thought. However, the genins soon realized how their skills increased in taijutsu and speed department, much to the blond's amusement when he saw the look of genuine surprise on their faces. It took another half an hour for Naruto to be satisfied with the exercise, before calling the genins over for the next one, ninjutsu.

"Right, good job all three of you…now, I'll teach each and every one of you a new jutsu that will come in handy"

The notion of learning a new jutsu was enough for Taki to shout in happiness and demand Naruto to teach him already, before Kaoro reprimanded the boy for bossing a jounin around.

"Okay, Taki you're an earth user, so the jutsu I'll teach is called _**Doton Doryuu Dangan (Earth Release: Mud Shot Jutsu)**_**. **I trust that Aoi already taught you the mud barrier jutsu, right?" – At the nod, he proceeded. "The concept is the same, gathering mud, but this time instead of spilling it on the ground, you'll throw forward at your opponent at inhuman speed, huh let's see they dodge that, right"

As expected, Taki was already shaking so Naruto turned to Aoshi, next. "You Aoshi are a fire user. I'm not very proficient with those yet, but I do know one you could definitely learn. It's calle_**d Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu)**_**.****"**

Aoshi was considered quite stoic to Naruto's opinion, but he was still a child, so he couldn't help but show his excitement even if only Naruto saw the eyebrow twitching thing that strangely enough Shino seem to do as well. The blond even thought for a moment that Aoshi was an Aburame, if it wasn't for the fact that he had no shades on and…well…no apparent holes all over his body. Kaoro was already fidgeting while listening to the cool jutsus other would learn, while she was stuck with nothing more than taijutsu. She loved the skill, actually…however, she needed ninjutsu as well, the shuriken kage bunshin was but the only jutsu her father taught her and Aoi-sensei didn't teach her much more than the simple _**shunshin no jutsu**_ (body flicker technique) and improvements on the academy jutsus…hopefully, Naruto-sensei would teach her a new one.

"Last but not least, Kaoro…ah since I don't actually know your affinity, we'll have to find that out first, before I can teach you any jutsu, so take this paper here and focus chakra on it for me" – Said Naruto to which the girl nodded, before taking the paper. Taki asked about the paper, before Aoshi smashed his hand on his forehead, saying that it was what Taki's father used to test his affinity, making the gaki scratch the back of his head in embarrassment for forgetting.

When Kaoro focused chakra to the paper, Naruto was surprised and hell out shocked when the paper sliced in half, meaning the girl was a wind user.

"Wow, you have a wind affinity, Kaoro" – Naruto said with a smile on his face, but Kaoro was surprised and a little bit afraid that it was bad thing, to which Naruto said on the contrary.

"It's not a bad thing; actually it will favor you greatly. I happen to be a wind user as well. The wind element is the most feared element in existence and since you favor close to middle-range combat, wind jutsus will be perfect for you. The only downsize here is that it will take a while to teach you to properly use the wind chakra, but rest assured that by the end of this two weeks, you'll be well-directed to learn jutsus in no time"

And so, Naruto summoned two kage bunshins so that he could focus on all three students the same time. He left the bunshins to teach Taki and Aoshi while the real Naruto started to teach Kaoro how to use wind chakra. As they progressed throughout the foliage and Naruto explained the leaf slicing exercise, the blond started to enjoy the feeling of being a sensei to these three genins.

* * *

**==At Amegakure===**

In Amegakure, the villagers walked around the many streets below their umbrellas as the never ending rain continued to punish the land. However, the word punish wasn't in the villager's mind as they thought it was a blessing coming from their god, their protector. Said man was seating on top of a building looking down the citizens of Amegakure while his chakra induced rain managed to scope the entire area for intrusions from those loyal to Hanzou the Salamander.

Closing his eyes a bit, he noticed that two presences just joined him inside his room on the top of the building.

"So, is it time, then? By this, we're certain that Konoha won't surrender Naruto to us" – The Rinnegan user asked as he saw the purple-haired Konan carrying a paper rose on her head as well as a man hiding behind that orange swirling mask of his.

"Yes it seems like it. Zetsu will continue to locate the Hachibi (eight-tails), while the rest of the Akatsuki will capture the Kyuubi. Reports on the Jinchuuriki implies that he gets stronger each day and we can't afford that. Take Itachi and Kisame if you must, but I want Uzumaki Naruto captured at all costs"

Out of a sudden, a huge array of lightning's started to illuminate the city as its noise carried a dreading message to Naruto and the citizens of the hidden village in the leaves.

* * *

_**Author Note: Okay, I'll stop right here. **_

_**So tell me what you think. **_


	26. Self Underestimation

**Author Note**

_Okay, now the man disappointed everyone with the manga 488. Granted, Naruto acknowledged he needs to train his skills, but come on man. For god's sake, Hinata was standing right there and Naruto did nothing. Come on, at least make him remember what happened, upon looking at her. No, instead Naruto talks about Sasuke and Ichiraku Ramen. I would go even more ballistic right now, had the man not revived Tsunade in the end of the manga._

_Also, it was a very emotional episode when Naruto found out about Jiraiya's death. Man, I was already sad from only reading the manga, but seeing the anime was tough and the music that came along…very intense, that's for sure. Now, we'll get to see Naruto's Senjutsu Training and, then, it's Pein's time baby. Hopefully, Kishimoto won't create more filler between the two events. That would suck greatly._

_Now on to the chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 26 – Self Underestimation**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

Another two weeks passed by in Konoha and not much occurred in our blond hero's life.

Akatsuki was still due to show their faces and the Hokage was getting more and more apprehensive each day. That's the thing with postponing the inevitable, one day you'll have to deal with it and Tsunade was getting a bad omen that when it came, Konoha wouldn't be prepared to deal with S-ranked criminals. Her plan to face them was simple enough, yet challenging. For each organization member, Konoha would select one of its elite shinobi to deal with them and, of course, an Anbu squadron would serve as backup.

Granted there were a lot of jounins that could rival Akatsuki in Konoha, but as Hokage, Tsunade couldn't afford to take such risks. Kakashi, Aoi and Jiraiya had both the experience and skills to back them up, whereas Naruto had only the skills. His only problem, so far, was the lack of experience. All the members of Akatsuki were vicious criminals, people that survived numerous battles like Kisame as he happened to be one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Itachi was also a veteran and his mastery over the Sharingan placed doubt on Tsunade's mind regarding the jounin who would be facing him.

Hatake Kakashi was the perfect opponent for every enemy, but not an Uchiha and especially not Uchiha Itachi. When it comes to a battle of doujutsu, the natural user held the advantage in battle. Tsunade was considering facing someone else against Itachi. Perhaps an elite Hyuuga would suffice against someone with the Sharingan. The Byakugan would spot every single genjutsu casted and dispel it immediately.

_'I wonder if Neji would be the better choice'_

The Hyuuga prodigy was, in Tsunade's opinion, the best fighter amongst the clan. Well-rounded and very adapt in reorganizing his strategy even in the middle of the fight, Neji received a great number of complements both from his sensei Gai and the Hyuuga patriarch Hyuuga Hiashi. Suddenly, a knock was heard and Kakashi entered while reading his all time favorite book.

"You called for me Godaime?" Kakashi said, alerting Tsunade's attention.

"Ah Kakashi, just the man I wanted to see, come in please and close the door."

The Jounin obliged as he took a few steps closer to the Hokage's desk as he kept his book inside the kunai holster and placed both hands inside his pockets.

Kakashi had just participated in a B-ranked mission and returned yesterday, it couldn't be possible that Tsunade would issue another mission to him so soon.

"Kakashi, I'm going to ask you a question and I want your opinion. I want you to think about the answer for a minute. Take as much time as you want to respond." Tsunade asked, earning a nod from the jounin as she continued. "Right now, do you feel capable of beating Uchiha Itachi in a fight?"

The question surprised Kakashi greatly, but the dead serious look on Tsunade's face proved that this wasn't a joke.

So, he set his mind to think about the current events and how his last fights against Itachi turned out. Kakashi remembered the first time when Itachi casted the strongest genjutsu in existence and sent him to the hospital for weeks. Actually, it was only because of Tsunade healing him that he managed to awaken.

Last time, he couldn't do much against Itachi when his team managed to rescue Gaara from Akatsuki. In terms of skills with the Sharingan, there was no doubt in Kakashi's mind about Itachi's superiority. However, one vital fact was that Kakashi had yet to face Itachi after he managed to tap into his clan's white chakra. Right now, Kakashi couldn't give Tsunade what she was asking of him. In the past, he would gauge Itachi stronger than him. But right now, he just didn't know. Sasuke was similar in skills with Itachi and Kakashi managed to beat him. Granted Sasuke had two separate sources of chakra and could replenish, but Kakashi beat him.

"I don't know Tsunade-sama, frankly I just don't know." Kakashi said, but Tsunade didn't voice her opinion, at least not yet. She had a feeling that Kakashi had more to say. "There are too many variables to consider. I cannot give you a definite answer."

Tsunade closed her eyes in contemplation.

Indeed Itachi had yet to show his true power and Kakashi had yet to fight with everything he had. Who's to say Kakashi wasn't at Itachi's level. Still, Tsunade wasn't convinced that sending Kakashi would be the best option against Itachi.

"Tsunade-sama..." Kakashi said, alerting the Hokage's attention. "May I ask the meaning behind this question?"

"You know that Akatsuki will come for Naruto if not now then very soon if what Jiraiya said is true. The pervert and I came up with a plan to stop their advance and protect both the village and Naruto. Each member will be faced by one of our shinobi. Jiraiya, Aoi and Naruto are already prepared to face them. Aoi and Jiraiya will face Pein and Naruto will face Kisame. Itachi, though, so far is undecided. Normally, you'd be the one to face him, but I'm worried about his doujutsu superiority. I was considering choosing a Hyuuga, maybe Neji to face him."

Despite the indirect jab and complete lack of faith in Kakashi's skills, he maintained a level headed mind and responded with all sincerity. His resolve was firm in the manner of accompanying Naruto to the grave, if necessary.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto is my student no matter what happens. With all honesty, I prefer to die fighting alongside him then sit back and watch others do it for me. I mean no disrespect, Tsunade-sama, but if my student is going to a battle of death, then I shall always be by his side" His tone was calm, but Tsunade could see Naruto's influence on the once stoic Kakashi. She had the decency to smile at this.

Normally, it's the student that incorporates the master's habits, but this was the first time she saw the master incorporating the student's habits. The Hokage remembered when Kakashi managed to awaken Hatake Sakumo's white chakra. Certainly, Kakashi was his son.

"I see your resolve is firm and no matter what I say, you'll go with Naruto. Still, I have my reservations concerning Itachi's Mangenkyou Sharingan and how it easily bedridden you four years ago." Tsunade said, earning a nod from Kakashi.

"I've been experimenting for some time now with my father's chakra and I've been researching some of his notes hidden in my clan estate. I remembered reading something about a specific skill that my father used, which was able to beat the majority of genjutsus. Hopefully, while it won't be able to neutralize Itachi's Tsukyomi completely, it may serve as an advantage."

Tsunade remembered hearing something about Sakumo expanding his chakra in a way that he created a type of field around his body, interfering with genjutsu techniques.

"Then, I'll be restricting your mission assignments, Kakashi" Tsunade said, surprising Kakashi, but she continued. "Right now, gaining any form of advantage against Itachi's genjutsu is your top priority.

"Understood…"

* * *

**===With Naruto and his team===**

The two weeks under Naruto's guidance did wonders for the three genins. More so than any one of the three had realized.

Taki and Aoshi managed to add some new jutsus to their arsenal and Taki's speed in hand seals improved considerably. Naruto invented an exercise to aid him. It consisted of creating pressured situations, like throwing a kunai just when the genin initiated the hand seal sequence or charging at him while causing as much noise as possible, disrupting the young man's confusion. Now, Naruto could even attack him with ninjutsu but Taki wouldn't deteriorate from his resolve and finished the hand seal before Naruto's technique reached his target. Certainly, this counted as one point in favor for the blond as a jounin-sensei, seeing that this would be his first time actually teaching a team of genins.

Last but not least, Kaoro. Naruto took a special liking to the little girl, seeing as no matter what Naruto threw at her, she didn't complain at all and completed the exercise.

The girl's resolve to improving her skills was perhaps even greater than Naruto's and the drive to always improve was evident on her face. Seeing that Kaoro had an affinity for wind, Naruto had a tough path in front of him. He had two weeks to teach her wind manipulation, a feat he managed in a short time but only because he had a huge chakra capacity at his disposal and of course, the hundreds and hundreds of kage bunshins used to help shorten the time needed.

In the beginning, Naruto feared it would take too long for her to even complete the first step, slicing a leaf in two.

But what Naruto wasn't counting on was that because of his abundance in chakra, controlling his chakra accordingly was almost impossible if not for the bunshins. Kaoro, though, didn't have that problem. He didn't know if the girl had an excellent grasp of chakra control because of her family lineage or perhaps Aoi's guidance had something to do with it. Regardless the fact was that the girl managed to slice the leaf in four days, much to Naruto's amazement.

Because of this, low level techniques already could be done, but Naruto wanted her to be able to perform the second stage.

Of course, slicing an entire waterfall seemed possible to him because of his clones, but Naruto learned that actually the point behind the exercise is to slice water molecules, rather than the waterfall itself. So, Kaoro's training was transferred to a peaceful lake near their training ground where she proceeded to slice the water in two. And while this exercise took her longer than the leaf exercise, Kaoro managed to complete it in only a week, thus completing the necessary requirements for wind techniques.

Granted it would be only the C level ones for a while, but with time she would be able to start learning the B-ranked ones and hopefully A-ranked as well.

The girl for her part was ecstatic. Upon each objective completed, she would jump in the air and punch the air with such vigor that practically forced a smile on Naruto's face. Kaoro now felt ashamed for doubting Naruto's skills as she admired him the day he treated her as a ninja not some lady in distress that needed to be saved by her peers all the time and for that she respected Naruto even more.

"Okay Kaoro, let's practice one more time, shall we?" Naruto asked as the girl nodded with much enthusiasm.

Doing a couple hand seals, Kaoro gathered enough air inside her lungs for a simple yet useful technique.

_**Fuuton Daitoppa no Jutsu **__(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu)_

As she exhaled the thin layer of wind from her mouth, Kaoro started molding the chakra necessary to expand the element's force until it transformed into a gust of wind. While it wasn't powerful enough yet to yank a few trees, the girl was almost there in Naruto's book.

"Very good. Now, keep practicing the technique but remember not to exhaust your chakra supply. I'll go check on the other two and see to it that one doesn't kill the other. When you feel that you can't do anymore, come join us"

"Understood Naruto-sensei…"

So, Naruto left the girl practicing her first elemental jutsu while he went to check the other two integrants of the team.

It was a difficult task to teach powerful jutsus to genins, basically because they didn't yet know all the consequences of a jutsu backfiring. So, Naruto always wasted a couple minutes of his training to teach them about the many dangers that surrounds high level jutsus and the finesse required to perform them. Actually, Naruto thought he did a good job explaining the idea, but when he heard three simple words coming from Aoshi, Naruto froze instantly.

_**Katon Karyuu Endan**_ (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile Jutsu)

Naruto immediately appeared to witness Aoshi gathering as much oxygen for the technique inside his lungs, before the genin exhaled the technique towards Taki. The prankster, for his part, only grinned though as he made some hand seals of his own to block the offensive fire jutsu.

_**Doton Doryuuheki **__(Earth Release: Mud Wall Jutsu)_

As the fire missile reached Taki's position, the mud wall rose just in time to block it, but Naruto knew it wouldn't be enough to hold an A-ranked fire technique such as this one. The fire was so hot that it was digging a hole through the mud wall and he could see Taki focusing as much chakra as he could to strengthen the barrier, but to no avail.

Vanishing within a small tornado, Naruto suddenly appeared in front of Taki as he made a sequence of four hand seals.

_**Suiton Suijinheki **__(Water Release: Water Wall Jutsu)_

The rise of the water geyser was enough to stop the fire technique from burning Taki or perhaps even killing him. Naruto's presence surprised the two fierce combatants as they ceased the battle. Both knew they were in trouble, since Naruto warned them not to use these techniques against one another, specially the karyuu endan technique as it was considered the strongest fire technique ever created.

"I'm not even going to open my mouth, because by the look of your faces, you realize what could have been the consequences, had I not been here to stop it. Taki would be killed by his own teammate for that matter and I'd be stuck with the sad task of informing your parents about it."

The look on their faces was proof enough of their regret concerning their safety and Naruto knew the lesson was learned. Aoshi wasn't aware of his technique's potential, since he had yet to test it against the mud wall jutsu. Taki, well, he just wanted to gloat about the awesome defensive jutsu he learned that could stop all techniques from hurting him. Naruto had one more lesson to tell these two, before he continued their training.

"Look, I've taught you jutsus that normally no jounin should. Not only are they chakra taxing, but also as almost happened, bad consequences may arise from poor judgment. What is worse is that I'm responsible for your three's well being and that won't change even with Aoi around. If something happens to either one of you right now, guess who will be blamed for it?" Naruto said, earning apologetic nods from both Aoshi and Taki.

"Okay, now I've seen you learned your lesson nicely. Now, continue with the training but for now we'll restrict to taijutsu only…"

The two nodded and charged at each other with nothing but plain taijutsu. It would be like this until their muscles were sore, but at least Naruto won't need to worry about telling some parent the terrible news that their child had died on his watch. A jounin-sensei had the responsibility over his genins after all, right?

By this time, Kaoro arrived and took a seating next to Naruto as she saw the taijutsu battle between her teammates.

Naruto could see she was panting for lack of breath as practicing the great breakthrough technique could do that to you. Besides what happened, Naruto was very proud of all three of the genins. Certainly, no one would say he screwed up with them when Aoi got his team back. Still, Naruto wondered what it would be like having these three as his permanent team. Little did he know, though, that two people were right now discussing this very topic.

* * *

**===In Tsunade's office===**

Aoi and Tsunade were now conversing about his mission in Waterfall Country. It was scheduled for him to return two days from now, but the agreement between Konoha and Taki was signed earlier than expected, freeing Aoi sooner than expected. Konoha was expanding its influence on other hidden villages and Taki was the next one. Their academy program worked wonders for the genins in Suna, so Tsunade took that opportunity and extended Konoha's services to Taki in exchange for their alliance with the hidden village in the leaves.

Actually, Fubuki, the village leader, showed great interest once Konoha offered this agreement. Still now he was grateful to the village especially the old Team Seven for saving his village against the missing-nins. Also, it came to Tsunade's attention that the waterfall village's genin program lacked the necessary knowledge of teamwork and survival skills and these two happened to be Konoha's very foundation of what a genin should know.

"So, when will they sign the contract and send it to me, Aoi?" Tsunade asked, as she leaned on her table.

"A few days no more than that. He just asked for a chunnin team to collect it after he informs us. At first, Fubuki didn't appear to be such a paranoid individual, but I guess I was wrong. I could see him checking his surroundings all the time, like he was expecting someone to attack him at any time."

"No doubt, he lacks the necessary experience to run a village. He's too young after all. I was equally afraid when the Godaime Kazekage took his throne. Gaara is the same age as Naruto and he has been a kage for almost three years now. Luckily, that kid is smart and knows when to listen to his elders, because if not, Suna would be ruined."

Aoi knew about the young Kazekage Gaara, former jinchuuriki of the Ichibi bijuu. He even had a meeting with him as a representative from Iwa's Anbu one time when a Suna missing-nin crossed the border and tried invading Iwa.

"Speaking of Naruto, how is he treating my little genins?" Aoi asked, earning a smile from Tsunade.

"Quite well actually. I believe our plan worked like a charm, Aoi-san. The genins have all warmed up to the brat and he even corrected some flaws you weren't able to. Taki's speed with hand seals greatly improved and little Kaoro just learned wind manipulation. Aoshi was already a genius, but Naruto gave him some new jutsu to increase his repertoire of jutsus. The problem, now, is keeping Aoshi and Taki from killing one another..."

Aoi suddenly laughed at that, since the rivalry between the two was staggering. On a number of occasions, the old jounin had to step in and meddle with their fight in order to save one from the other.

"Rivalry is healthy, Tsunade. It drives them to improve"

"Forgive me if I don't share your opinion, Aoi. A lot of rivalries here turned out to be bad for the village. Jiraiya and Orochimaru were rivals, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui were rivals, Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were rivals. I just hope nothing bad occurs with this one. So, we are in agreement regarding Naruto, right?

The old man just smiled and nodded as he turned his back and grabbed an old and scattered Anbu mask from his back pack.

"I guess it's time to return to the shadows..."

Seconds later, Aoi vanished within a swirl of leaves, leaving Tsunade alone to do her line of business.

He, then, appeared on the streets as he callously walked throughout the streets of the village he learned to call home. The sun was on the verge of setting and the last rays of sunlight brought a sense of warmth to the village that couldn't be felt in Iwa. There, instead of leafy trees and beautiful scenery, all Aoi could see was dark rock and mountains surrounding the hidden village of stone. Some of the villagers greeted him as he passed by and he greeted them back.

The people in Konoha were friendly to the old jounin as he passed through the streets and entered the training grounds area.

He had a specific destination in mind and he didn't stop for anything. He could spot a great deal of shinobi sharing the training grounds and some were practicing his art, doton manipulation. But the only training ground he was interested was the one where his four students were now located. In a few minutes, training ground number seven appeared in the horizon and four silhouettes could be seen. As he approached even further, he could see Naruto's eyes following his movements as expected. Aoshi and Kaoro were next to him and Taki, to Aoi's surprise, was making a long series of hand seals quite fast and precise.

Indeed, Naruto did a good job with the boy as he saw Taki gathering chakra inside his body.

_**Doton Doryuu Taihou (Earth Release: Mud Cannon Jutsu)**_

As Taki exhaled the strong beam of mud, the attack hit a thick rock a couple meters before piercing it as it continued on through some trees. No doubt that was a high B-level technique Naruto just taught the boy. What remained, now, for Naruto's training to be adequate was whether or not the genins would be able to cope with so much knowledge. It didn't matter, though, Aoi concluded. In two months time, these three would no doubt pass the Chunnin Exams that will be held in Sunagakure.

"You returned earlier than I expected you to." Naruto said, alerting his student's before they turned their faces to meet their other sensei Aoi.

Immediately, all three of them, except Aoshi of course who just walked, jumped on their sensei and hugged him with force. Naruto smiled at the scenery and closed his eyes, before approaching the happy group. Aoi, after placing Taki on the ground, looked at his most worthy student yet with a smile on his face. The sun was beginning to disappear on the horizon and the team's training was done for the day.

"Say you three, why don't we have some dinner at the Barbeque Place, I'm buying"

Needless to say, Aoi's offer was met with shout of happiness which didn't bode well for Naruto, since he thought all of them enjoyed the food of the gods called ramen. He even pounded a bit, until Aoi turned his attention to him and asked him to dinner.

"Naruto, would you join us for dinner? It's the least I can do to repay you for taking care of them, especially Taki and Aoshi. These two can be a handful"

Aoi's enthusiastic grin was staggering and Naruto smiled back.

"It was nothing Aoi-sensei. Indeed, they are a handful, but talented genins nonetheless. If you don't mind, though, I'll skip the dinner invitation. I…" Naruto was about to finish his train of mind, but stopped once Kaoro appeared in front of him, before looking at him with puppy eyes, quite to the blond's chagrin.

"Naruto-sensei, come with us please…"

'Oh man…so young and already using those eyes of hers' Thought Naruto as he figured his date with Anko wasn't until two hours.

"Okay, Kaoro you win, let's go old man."

"Don't feel bad Naruto, it's hard to say no to her once she shows those eyes."

Naruto smiled as he could see the girl's face brightened up, while storming to the restaurant dragging the other two with her. Aoi and Naruto remained a few distance away from the genins as they had a lot to discuss. Right now, the skies were smiling at Konoha and its villagers, but it may not be the same once Akatsuki came.

"I trust you've been training, Naruto. Surely, S-ranked ninjas are no playground…" Aoi asked as he saw his team of genins talking with each other and discussing some new techniques Naruto taught them. Naruto nodded solemnly, though he wished they would be able to deal with the group without risking the village's welfare.

"I've been training, alright. But I don't think it's enough to deal with those guys. Ever since Kyuubi's chakra merged with my own, my techniques' strength increased severely and my speed is now doubled. Trouble is that I don't know what they are able to do and quite frankly, I have a feeling they know exactly what I can do." Naruto said, with a lost look on his face. He wanted nothing more than the death of each and every one of that organization.

Aoi, for his part, looked at Naruto for a while before facing his team once more.

"It's not wise to underestimate your own skills Naruto." Aoi said, surprising Naruto as he continued. "Your knowledge of the ninja arts far surpassed all of our expectations and it's my belief that Akatsuki won't be able to beat you. Granted they don't come with subterfuge for advantage, but seeing as your girlfriend is a jounin and everyone you know is already chunnin level shinobi, I guess taking some hostages to convince you won't be an issue. The only thing we have to worry about is the possibility of them working together to capture you"

"Even if they succeed in capturing me, they would be severely disappointed. What are the Hokage's plans if they appear?"

"Beat them one by one, I guess. Off the top of my head, I'd imagine both me and Jiraiya would be there to back you up. Of course, Kakashi will be there as well, so placing one against the other would be our best option. It would stop them for pairing up against you. Though, who would be paired against whom, remains to be decided"

By this time, the five were walking throughout the streets of Konoha as the sun had set and the street lights were already doing its job.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei will be against Itachi, that's for sure; a battle of doujutsu. Besides Kisame, to whom I believe will be an incredibly tough opponent, I don't know the rest of the members. At least, not the ones that are still alive that is."

"Kisame, I believe, would be a fine opponent to measure your skills against, Naruto."

'Great, now my sensei is delusional' Naruto thought as they group entered the barbeque place.

"You can't possibly mean that I'm on Kisame's level Aoi-sensei. The man has about twenty years ahead of me in terms of experience. Plus that damn sword of his would suck up all my chakra dry" Snarled Naruto, quite to Aoi's disappointment, but he knew the source of Naruto's self doubt. It was when the two engaged the first time that Aoi was playing with him the whole time. Naruto believed that nothing changed from that time and that Kisame would be doing the same thing.

Still, no words would manage to convince a fighter like Naruto, so Aoi considered convincing him through his fists.

"Still don't believe in yourself, huh. Tell you what, tomorrow meet me at training ground number 7. Tomorrow is the genin's day off. If you manage to beat me, then you'll believe as I do that you are ready for them."

Naruto eyed Aoi with concern, though the man's proclamation managed to increase his battle spirit. As the group chose a table, Taki rushed with his order, disorienting the waiter a bit, before Kaoro landed a punch on his head yelling at him to slow things down. After all the orders were taken the group now started a heated discussion regarding a hypothetical battle between Aoi and Naruto, earning a sigh in dismay from Naruto and a happy smile from the seasoned Anbu.

"No doubt, Aoi-sensei would wipe the floor with Naruto-sensei. I've seen him dealing with four ninjas at once on that mission we went to Suna four months ago. With one jutsu, he wiped them all out." Taki yelled with severe enthusiasm. Aoshi, despite his reserved demeanor, wasn't much in favor of Naruto, since he believed that age on the battle field was far superior to skills alone. Naruto knew this was a lost battle, until Kaoro rose from her seat.

"You two don't know what you're saying. I've seen Naruto-sensei slice an entire waterfall using only wind manipulation. I doubt Aoi-sensei could ever top an attack like that."

The look of shock on Taki and Aoshi were too much and Kaoro took great pleasure in stating how skilled Naruto was in front of her peers. Still, the fact that at least one of the team was on Naruto's side was enough for Naruto to smile in appraisal, until a familiar voice interrupted what he was about to say.

"Well, I'm starting to be a little jealous…" Anko said, as she appeared from behind Naruto as she caressed his golden locks.

Naruto looked up to see his girlfriend smiling at him, before looking at the little blond girl that stood up for her boyfriend.

"Hey Anko-chan, everyone meets Anko-chan my girlfriend. Anko, the smiling one over there is Taki, the one with a constant frown is Aoshi and the girl's name is Kaoro. Also, you've met Aoi-sensei already, haven't you?"

"Nice to meet you everyone." Anko said, as she took a seat next to Naruto.

Aoshi maintained the frown on his face, though when he looked at Anko's features, his face was starting to change in color. Taki wasn't so controlled as he started drooling, before Kaoro smacked him on the face and told him to stop drooling.

"Anko-san, I apologize for their behavior, it's very inappropriate" said Kaoro as she bowed to Anko.

The snake jounin looked to Naruto for a moment, then at Aoi.

"No worries there kiddo, if these two were chunnins or above, trust me they would be sent flying straight to the hospital. I'll let it slide for now" Anko smiled deviously, as she grabbed a kunai and started playing with it in a menacingly way, scaring the shit out of the two genins. Naruto, for his part, smiled at his girlfriend's all time favorite hobby, scaring little genins.

In the end, the couple's date turned out to be a very nice dinner with the team as they continued the discussion regarding who would win in a fight between Aoi and Naruto. With Kaoro and Anko supporting Naruto, while Taki and Aoshi favored Aoi. The girls quickly bonded as Anko started teaching some nice stuff about how to treat the other sex's lack of respect. Now, Naruto would have to watch out for the rise of a new Anko if Kaoro absorbed even half of what Anko was telling her.

* * *

**===At Training Ground Number Seven===**

Aoi and Naruto were now facing each other in the middle of the training field, but Aoi was now in different clothes. Regular Anbu cargo pants, a light blue vest and a ninjato was on his back. The only part missing from a full Anbu wardrobe was the mask, but that soon was filled as Aoi placed a plain scattered mask with the symbol of Iwa on the mask's forehead region. Just from looking at the mask, Naruto could see the number of battles Aoi faced throughout his life.

Plus, that mask must have been Aoi's only treasure in Iwa, seeing that he could have changed that mask at least once.

"I'm sure that mask means a lot to you, Aoi-sensei" Naruto said, as his hands rested casually inside his pants pockets.

"It's something only an Anbu or ex-Anbu can understand, actually. The things we saw, the atrocities we are forced as shinobi to do…well sometimes it's better to wear a mask then to show your face to the whole world."

Naruto couldn't see Aoi's face because of the mask, but he could feel the heavy burden behind the experienced voice of a man that could rival the Sannin in both skills and experience. Naruto was caught by surprise once he felt a major shift in the wind. He realized in surprise that the man in front of him was different. This wasn't the kind old man who tried very hard to forget everything that happened in his troubled life.

Now, Naruto was in for a preview of what every one of Aoi's enemies felt before being killed.

Suddenly, Aoi grabbed his ninjato and charged at Naruto with speed that he couldn't keep up. A sudden countenance appeared in front of Naruto, before he grabbed his kodashi and stopped Aoi's attack, only seconds away from slicing his throat. What was more surprising for the blond was that Aoi pressed on with his sword, before Naruto could feel the blade almost touching his jugular. There was no doubt in his mind that Aoi wasn't joking around, so it wouldn't be nice to let him have his way. Naruto focused chakra to his muscles all of a sudden and forced Aoi away from him as the blond charged Aoi with both his swords. He attacked Aoi with his katana with a diagonal slash, but Aoi simply evaded and twisted his body to land a powerful kick on Naruto's stomach.

The blond skidded a bit but otherwise he was fine.

Aoi's kick wasn't aimed at any pressure point, serving only to grant a little distance. Naruto charged Aoi with his twin sword style. Charging with the kodashi, Naruto saw Aoi moving his ninjato to defend, before he moved his right arm to attack with the katana. Aoi was surprised, but he adjusted to Naruto's deception, defending the kodashi's strike, before making a quick kawarimi to replace his body with a tree log.

Naruto knew what would happen next as he sensed the usage of chakra from his right as he placed his sword back on each respective holster. Suddenly, Aoi started a long series of hand seals, before he gathered mud on his throat.

_**Doton Doryuu Dangan **__(Earth Release: Mud Shot Jutsu)_

Different than little Taki's technique, Aoi's was much faster and very difficult to dodge. One of the shots managed to scratch Naruto's arm, but the rest he managed to dodge. Once the last passed by him, Naruto started his own series of hand seals, as he conjured a plan in his mind.

_**Fuuton Kaze no Yaiba **__(Wind Release: Wind Sword Jutsu)_

Aoi could see the wind sword approaching, forcing him to evade it fast otherwise Aoi would suffer the same consequence as the waterfall. However, as soon as Aoi evaded, he was surprised to see Naruto right in front of him. Aoi wasn't fast enough to block the blond's kick as he went flying. The seasoned shinobi managed to flip his body and land on the ground safe, but Naruto wasn't through as he charged Aoi once more with a sequence of punches. Quickly grabbing a couple of shuriken, Aoi threw them at Naruto, catching the blond by surprise.

Quickly grabbing his kodashi, Naruto managed to deflect the projectiles, but when he finished, Aoi was already by his side with his ninjato inches away from slicing him in half.

Naruto did one back flip once to escape. He did another and while in mid-air, Naruto initiated a series of hand seals. Aoi was suspicious for a moment, as the earth below Naruto started to shatter. But he was surprised once Naruto finished the last hand seal.

_**Doton Tetsu no Yari **__(Earth Release: Iron Lance Jutsu)_

Immediately, two iron lances shot out from the ground straight towards Aoi. The lances pierced his skin and sent the old jounin straight towards a tree where he was pinned there like a target. Naruto, for the life of him didn't believe this to be the end, although the site of his dead sensei was too much to erase from his memory. Naruto wasn't surprised to see that Aoi's body transformed into mud, which earned a smile from the blond.

The real Aoi charged at the blond from behind with his sword, but Naruto managed to block it by using his kodashi.

The old jounin was surprised to see another Naruto on his back, but he was ill prepared to block the clone's incoming kick, before he was sent flying. Naruto charged him instantly, though Aoi surprised him by doing a long series of hand seals, before flipping his body, imitating Naruto's movements and smashing his hands on the ground.

_**Doton Doryuso**_ (Earth Release: Rising Stone Spears Jutsu)

Suddenly, as Naruto foreseen the appearance of the spikes right in front of him ready to pierce his skin, he focused chakra to his legs and jumped high to the air, while doing a long series of hand seals now for a fuuton jutsu.

_**Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki**__ (Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Jutsu)_

The wind around Naruto suddenly started spinning until it created a horizontal vortex. Naruto sent it towards Aoi with such speed that Aoi barely managed to avoid, but with gust wind techniques, either you avoid it completely or the force of the wind will end up dragging you along, hence why Aoi ended up being dragged by the force of the wind towards a sizeable rock. Figuring that the impact would hurt immensely, Aoi did the only thing he could against this strong technique.

He replaced himself with an unscathed tree log that rested next to Naruto as he landed on the ground.

Naruto didn't see anything, because he was focused on maintaining the technique. The tornado hit the rock with such force it managed to cut a sizeable chunk out of it. The blond was surprised, and only on mere instinct, did he move his kodashi fast enough to block Aoi's ninjato slash coming from his blind side. Naruto was wondering what the hell happened as Aoi pummeled him with strong sword slashes, forcing Naruto on the defensive. The old jounin suddenly managed to break Naruto's guard until he positioned his ninjato inches away from the blond's jugular.

"That was a good fight, Naruto. But I'm afraid you'd be dead had I been from Akatsuki" Aoi said, as he was panting with exhaustion. Fighting a stamina freak like Naruto was hard enough in the past, but now that Kyuubi's chakra mingled with his, it was like fatigue wasn't a part of Naruto's dictionary. Nevertheless, Aoi supposed that Naruto was beat, but the sudden smile on his student's facet told him otherwise as two swords were suddenly positioned on both sides of his neck.

"You're saying…old man"

Aoi smirked and dropped his ninjato on the ground in surrender. Naruto did the same as now the two stood before each other. Aoi was still recovering his breath a bit. If this fight went on much longer, Naruto wouldn't need to focus on killing Aoi. As he looked at Naruto, Aoi had a sense of pride he long ago lost as the hardships of the Anbu life were too much for him to handle. Out of all the ninjas he trained, not one of them had as much vigor and strength as the jounin in front of him.

For the first time in Aoi's life, he smiled as he saw a true shinobi from the younger generation, to whom he could pass his knowledge to.

"I trust that with the result displayed today, you've stop underestimating your skills?" Aoi said, as Naruto nodded with a smile on his face, but Aoi wasn't through talking as he now knew Naruto's capability to receive the ultimate technique "Naruto, I believe it is now time to teach you my signature technique. You have excelled in your skills throughout these months and I believe you're ready to learn the technique that could very well save Konoha one day just like I used it to save Iwa. I'm about to teach you the ultimate defense _**Doton Tetsu Toride **__(Earth Release: Iron Fortress Jutsu)_"

As Aoi was speaking, Naruto's pride was rising more and more. No one truly knew, but a complement from Aoi meant a lot to the blond, more so than anyone else. More than Jiraiya, Kakashi, Iruka…Aoi-sensei became a true sensei to him and he couldn't be more honored to have a man like him to teach him how to be a legendary shinobi.

"Now, I have to replenish my energy a bit, so what do you say we hit your favorite restaurant Ichiraku Ramen, before I teach you the technique, huh?"

The noise in Naruto's stomach was the best answer he could give, which earned a warm laugher from the old man.

* * *

**Author Note**

_It was my intention to do a simple prelude before Akatsuki's fight against Konoha. Before a life-altering battle, our hero wasn't sure whether or not he could defeat Akatsuki. _

_Now, just as Konoha, Naruto is prepared for the battle against the red cloud organization. _

_Stay tuned for next chapter._


	27. The Final Test

**Author Note**

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of 'Tired'

This happens to be my first story ever published and as such, it will be the first one to finish. To all Naruto x Anko fans out there don't worry. I plan to write a sequel in the future with new challenges, this time, involving other villages. If history proved something to everyone is that what happened in the past will certainly happen once more in the future. It's a cycle. Passed wars will once again occur.

Applying said concept in the Naruto world, you can all imagine what will happen in the sequel, right?

Now, regarding this story, I plan to finish in two chapters, starting with this one.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 27 – The Final Test**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

It was night time as the moonlight was trying its best to illuminate a specific portion of a forest within River Country.

Located within a small clearing were six presences seated around a camp fire, talking with each other. Criminals the lot of them as behind two tents was a cage filled with families and children from a small village ten miles away from the country's capital. The village was sacked and burned as the criminals kidnapped all the villagers, before sending a ransom note to the village's ill equipped police force. The deputy, then, sent the note to the River Country Daimyou, who in turn, requested help from the Hidden Village in the Leaves.

Deeply hidden behind a few trees northeast the camp's location was Naruto and his genin team.

Their orders were first to investigate the group's skills before engaging in combat. The team was well hidden, despite the fact that they were dealing with mere criminals. The young jounin could be seen closest to the camp site as it was his responsibility to make sure this mission was carried out without any problem. Kaoro and Aoshi were located behind a tree next to the one Naruto was standing on and Taki was right behind them.

The hyperactive genin, though, was getting frustrated with having to wait and he made no effort in keeping it to himself.

"Sensei, why don't we just charge and deal with them? They're just low-life bandits." Taki asked, much to the group's annoyance. The hyperactive genin was behaving like this since they arrived an hour ago. Kaoro and Aoshi tried reprimanding him a couple times, but apparently it wasn't enough. However, Naruto knew that he behaved the same way in the past, pestering his sensei Kakashi about charging in blindly.

"Looks can be deceiving, Taki. They could appear like low-life bandits, but right now they have hostages. We have to be sure that we can strike without risk of them killing the hostages. Remember the letter saying that if they saw even a glimpse of someone getting close, every one of the hostages would be killed. Besides, our orders were to access the enemy first, before striking." After Naruto's explanation, Taki nodded even though he preferred the old fashioned way, beating everyone to a bloody pulp.

Naruto took one last look at the camp site, before turning to his genin team.

"Okay team, here's our course of action. We've been here for an hour now and so far, none of them spotted us. Now, we have to focus on the hostages. Taki and Aoshi, you two will go around the camp site and free the prisoners while Kaoro and I will be responsible for keeping them occupied. However, we won't move until I see a signal coming from you two letting me know that the hostages are secure."

Aoshi and Kaoro nodded, though Taki, as per usual, complained about not going with Naruto to deal with the bandits. Naruto just ignored him.

"Aoshi, you'll be responsible for the signal. Just a flare of your chakra will suffice for this mission. With it, Kaoro and I will strike." Naruto ordered, before Taki and Aoshi vanished from sight.

From here on out, one little mistake could lead to the death of innocent lives. As such, it was Naruto's responsibility to cover the boys as well as the hostages. From his position, he could see Taki and Aoshi's position as they moved, with considerable efficiency towards the cage where the hostages were located. Their skills on stealth needed some work though, as some unnecessary noises were made especially by Taki.

However, seeing that no ninja were around, the boys managed to arrive at the cage. With but a kunai, Aoshi managed to free the hostages before Taki guided them towards their village. Aoshi stopped a second to flare his chakra to their sensei. The second Naruto sensed Aoshi's flare he smiled at the job well done, before turning to Kaoro.

"It's time Kaoro. Aoshi and Taki have already secured the hostages. Let's go." The little girl smiled, before both vanished and charged the criminals. "Remember, Kaoro, our mission is to rescue the hostages and bring these men to justice. Focus on rendering them unconscious…" shouted Naruto, before he saw the girl nod. Kaoro summoned a pair of Tonfa that Naruto gave her for her birthday and charged at the surprised criminals, who in turn grabbed a bunch of knives in an empty effort to protect themselves.

However, they were ill prepared to face a genin level shinobi as Kaoro managed to hit two in the chest, before Naruto appeared and delivered a quick blow to their necks, rendering them unconscious. The other four tried attacking Naruto and Kaoro, but with three swift moves from the jounin, all four of them were on the ground panting for breath and not one of them even knew what happened.

Smiling at the successful mission, Naruto and Kaoro tied up all six of them and waited for the authorities to arrive.

It took only ten minutes until the village mayor arrived followed by River Country's head of Police and six more samurai in order to arrest the criminals.

Both the village mayor and River Country's Head of Security approached Naruto, who was flanked by his team of genins. The mayor was short, barely taller than Kaoro and wore glasses. The Head of Security was the complete opposite, even taller than Naruto. His hair was wild and he wore an eye patch on his left eye. Besides that, his clothes were similar to the one used by the samurai that took the criminals back to the River Country's capital city.

"In the name of Lord Daimyou, we appreciate Konoha's help in this manner Jounin-san." The Head of Security said, before shaking hands with Naruto.

The blond showed a warm grin on his face, while continuing the hand shake.

"No need to thank us, we are happy to be off assistance. Now, I'm afraid we must go if we want to return to our village by tomorrow."

The two men smiled before nodding at the blond.

"Well, don't make me hold you nor your team, have a safe journey." This time it was the mayor who said it, before Naruto nodded and turned to his team.

"Let's go you three. Let's proceed towards Konoha. Whoever arrives first, I will teach a new jutsu." Naruto knew about the competitive side of his team, especially Taki and Kaoro. In one second, all three of them vanished towards the village's direction, earning a smile from Naruto. They were a handful to take care of, but right now they were his genin team and Naruto couldn't be happier. Immediately, the wind picked up around his body, before he vanished from sight, heading towards the hidden village in the leaves.

**

* * *

****===In Konoha===**

Once the sun was up and about in Konoha, four shadows could be seen running towards the west gate. Naruto was impressed with their stamina up to this point, but he figured that all three of them were eager for the new jutsu Naruto was offering to the winner. The three genins could see the finishing line, so they focused every last bit of chakra they possessed in order to win the race, while completely oblivious to their jounin's sudden disappearance.

Kaoro and Taki managed to arrive at the same time with Aoshi arriving last. While Kaoro and Taki were arguing about who won, Aoshi noticed that Naruto was waiting right in front of them.

"Okay, break it up you two. None of you won the race for I managed to enter the village pretty much five seconds ahead of you. So…"

"What you're talking about sensei? You weren't in the race!" Shouted Taki, but Naruto was smiling the entire time.

"I don't remember saying that Taki. I said '_whoever arrives first'. _I didn't count myself out of the race." Naruto said, before all three genins looked at him in bloody murder. After all, they ran all the way from River Country without rest _just _because Naruto would teach a new jutsu to the winner. They didn't know he would be competing as well. The blond was just itching for a camera to save this moment.

_It's so easy to fool these three…_"Okay, relax all of you. I'll teach everyone a new jutsu, don't worry."

"So what was the whole running for anyway?" Aoshi asked, quite perturbed with wasting so much energy needlessly. Naruto, for his part, smiled at the question.

"To increase your stamina." Until now, all three of them were looking at Naruto with the promise of utter pain and bloody murder, but now all three realized their sensei's plan. Seeing their now stunned faces, Naruto decided to enlighten them on his dark and evil planning. "You guys went from River Country to here nonstop. Most shinobi here perform the same trip with two or three stops, two hours each. Now, I trust you three are dead tired, so leave the mission debriefing to me. Meet me tomorrow morning…same place….same time."

After releasing his students, Naruto did the usual Kakashi salute and vanished within a shunshin, earning a sigh in dismay from the genins.

Now that the adrenaline was out of their system, fatigue soon followed and the genins couldn't do anything but drag their weak bodies towards their respective houses for some much needed rest.

**

* * *

****===In the Hokage's Office===**

After briefing Tsunade on his team's successful C-ranked mission, Naruto started chatting with the Hokage, in terms of what's to come.

Akatsuki could attack at any moment now and Tsunade wanted to be sure Konoha was ready to face the group. Of course, she didn't expect that they would give her a heads up before attacking, but she wanted to be prepared for the worst, nonetheless. This is why she made a decision not to send Naruto away from the village until she knew the threat was neutralized. It wasn't her decision to send his team on this mission to River Country, but at the time, his team was the only one available.

"I trust you have no objections to my stipulations Naruto? With the threat of Akatsuki, I can't afford for you to be outside of the village." Tsunade asked, before seeing the blond smile.

"No objections, whatsoever Tsunade-sama. While my team needs the experience, surely there is a lot I can teach them here. Plus, I was meaning to teach them some basic genjutsu skills, which could come in handy in the future. Also, they need work on stealth." Naruto explained, while resting his hands inside his pocket, earning a smile from the Hokage.

"Did Jiraiya find anything?" Naruto asked, but met with the same answer.

"Not yet, I'm afraid. Their movements are impossible to predict and they don't leave trails. Jiraiya is scheduled to arrive here in about an hour." At this, Naruto frowned. Sure, tracking down S-ranked criminals was a lunatic idea, but in Naruto's mind, at least Konoha would be better prepared for when they arrived.

"Well, you can't blame me for trying to be one step ahead of them." Smiled Naruto, as Tsunade nodded.

"True…go take some rest Naruto. You'll need all your strength for when they appear…" Tsunade said to which Naruto nodded, before dismissing himself within a small tornado shunshin, scattering a large pile of documents that Shizune left for the Hokage to deal with later today. The woman was beginning to curse that new elemental shunshin.

'_Great, now I'll have to call Shizune here once more, before looking at those documents. Damn Naruto, use the door next time…' _Tsunade thought as she buzzed Shizune's intercom for assistance.

**

* * *

****===With Naruto===**

After leaving Tsunade's office, Naruto was thinking about the imminent threat on the horizon and he didn't like the village's current situation. According to Tsunade, Jiraiya was having difficulty in following Akatsuki's movements.

However, an edge was needed.

All of his enemies were S-ranked criminals and as such, it wouldn't be an issue for them to sneak inside the village without alerting anyone. Especially Itachi who, as a former Anbu Captain, must have knowledge of the village's hidden entrances. They could kill everyone without the first intruder alert goes off and that would mean the village's downfall. Naruto wouldn't have that. He walked towards an empty training ground, before going through a sequence of hand seals. He slammed his left hand on the ground, before a series of written kanji materialized around it.

"**What's up Naruto? Long time no seen eh?" **Naruto lifted his eyebrow in surprise at the toad's height as he pretty much covered the sunlight.

"Wow Gamakichi, how long has it been since we've last seen each other? You are huge...?" Naruto asked, before the toad grinned.

"**Huh...Tou-san is at least twice my current size. What about you, though? When did you become a Jounin? Last time I saw you, you were just a genin.**"

"Couple of months ago...listen Gamakichi, I have a situation here and I was wondering if the toads might help me out. It concerns that there's group called Akatsuki and…" Naruto said as he began explaining his plan to the considerable sized toad.

**

* * *

****===With Akatsuki===**

Considering that the organization was composed of only S-ranked criminals, it would be insane to see the entire group travelling together.

It was not only stupid, seeing as they could be easily detected, thus ruining whatever objective they might have. However, considering the path chosen so far, little worry was needed as the group was travelling through Wave Country, a place where Konoha knew little about and, quite to Itachi's dismay, not one single outpost was placed at the border between the two countries. Despite everything, the eldest Uchiha couldn't stand for stupidity and with the Sandaime Hokage's passing, he was afraid that Konoha would become rather lax when security was concerned.

"Such a waste of a shinobi force…." Itachi muttered as he also remembered how easy it was to deal with a team of the Leaf Anbu last week. The captain was a very capable shinobi, but his unit went down quickly, leaving him defenseless against four S-ranked missing-nins. His partner heard Itachi's complaining and could only grin in response.

"Ehh Itachi, don't be like this. It used to be your village as well."

One of the reasons why Kisame enjoyed Itachi's presence was the Uchiha's remarks regarding Akatsuki's opponents. Jinchuurikis who barely scratched their potential because of fear alone and in this case, hidden villages that grew too accustomed with peace, thus showing negligence in their defense system and respective shinobi skills. This special route led straight to the Hidden Village in the Leaves and not one single shinobi was spotted.

"It's only pitiful that Tsunade of the Sannin didn't follow her predecessors as far as defenses are concerned. If we were at war, Konoha would be the first one to fall…" Itachi concluded, before they heard their leader's deep voice. The man in front of him had orange spiky hair and metallic rings piercing his nose. His eyes were the most peculiar characteristic being better described as a ripple-like pattern around the pupil, with a grayish-purple iris and sclera, better known as the third and most powerful doujutsu ever to exist, called the Rinnegan.

"Be that as it may Itachi, it's not our concern at the moment. Capturing the Jinchuuriki is our top priority and if the village gets in the way of our plans, then it will be their funeral. After all, only after true pain can we reach peace." Itachi nodded, though he didn't agree with the man's logic. Pain would only cause more pain it was as simple as that. You kill someone dear to a certain group and that group will take their revenge on you. To Itachi, the word _peace _was a commodity he didn't believe in nor did he wish to. After all, ninjas are meant to kill and it would be this way until every shinobi perishes.

**

* * *

****===Back with Naruto===**

As soon as the toad vanished in order to relay Naruto's idea to the others, Naruto went to his apartment for a much deserved rest as he pondered on his confrontation against Akatsuki, more precisely, Hoshigaki Kisame. Naruto never faced the man before, but he knew that his sword was the man's strength. With it, Kisame could suck the opponent's chakra. And even with the Kyuubi's chakra now mixed with his, Naruto was having doubts about the outcome of the confrontation. Kisame was considered the best of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, a group of experienced and equally talented shinobi.

Another advantage that Kisame had was knowledge. He knew much of Naruto's skills, but Naruto was clueless regarding his. All he knew was that sword of his and the fact that he uses suiton jutsus. Suddenly, a smile appeared as he found something to use against the shark like member of the Akatsuki. In terms of elemental ninjutsu, water users are weak against earth based techniques. Also, the fact that Naruto was taught the art of iron manipulation just improved his chances, at least as far as ninjutsu was involved.

He hoped it was enough to beat Kisame.

_Yeah, right? Like the man never faced an earth user before and beat the hell out of the guy! _

It didn't take long to reach his apartment, before he closed the drapes of the bedroom and slept. He wasn't really tired, though. Because of the fox's chakra mixed with his own, Naruto needed even less time than before to fully rest. The blond slept a total of five hours, before opening his eyes. Scanning the room a bit, he saw a note next to his alarm clock. Taking a seat while inside the sheets, he started reading the note left by his girlfriend.

_

* * *

__Naruto-kun, you were sleeping so I left you this note. I considered just waking your ass up to tell you, but thought against it. Wouldn't want you to do the same thing to me, right? Anyway, I invited Kurenai and Asuma for a drink tonight. Same place as always, at 8. Meet you there!_

* * *

Looking at the clock, he still had an hour to take a shower and get dressed. Turning the shower on, Naruto suddenly realized something.

He needed to tell Anko about Akatsuki.

As a jounin, he figured that she already knew about it. In all honesty, he was meaning to avoid said conversation with her. He knew how much she suffered from losing those she held dear in the past; no matter how much she kept hidden. Nevertheless, he figured that he needed to talk to her about it. So that in case something happens to either him or Konoha, she'd know about it. He just wondered about her reaction.

Getting out of the shower, he got dressed and left the apartment towards the place where every ninja goes when they are in need of a nice drink either to celebrate something or to just forget about the stressful life that every shinobi led. The place, located next to the village's merchant district, is owned by a retired Anbu Captain who served alongside the Sandaime Hokage. The man called Hotaru had some great stories for anyone who paid attention to the bartender, other than ordering drinks.

**

* * *

****===At the Bar===**

Upon arrival, Naruto sighed at how crowded the place was. Once inside, Naruto started looking around the place for three familiar faces.

It was impossible, though.

He only managed to spot Anko, because the woman started waving at him from the far corner of the room. Moving through the many filled tables, he finally reached the one where his girlfriend was staying with Asuma and Kurenai. Quickly greeting everyone, he took a seat next to Anko and followed the ongoing conversation about a failed Anbu mission that resulted in the loss of one highly skilled team. Naruto was made aware of this mission a few days before his mission to River Country, albeit he didn't ponder much on the subject, so he just settled in to listen to Asuma and Anko's conversation.

"I don't know…it all seems a little farfetched to me. I heard about this team and they were among the best in the organization. They couldn't be beaten so easily."

No one actually knew what happened out there, because all that was found later on was four Anbu masks, broken. So, either they were killed or captured for interrogation. So, in other words, they were beaten. Anko didn't agree, but she considered sipping some sake down her throat first, before giving her thought of what happened, much to Naruto's dismay, seeing as he would have to carry her home once more.

"I'm not sure Asuma, those guys may be good, but not invincible. It's possible that the Anbu team was surrounded or fell victim to a surprise attack. It wouldn't be the first time and it won't be the last. Even Kakashi, who is today considered the elite of the elite, already faced these kinds of situations. And he only managed to escape because of his Sharingan. This things happen and like everything, it occurs when you least suspect. What do you think Naruto-kun?"

The blond was actually thinking about something else at the moment, when Anko brought him into the conversation.

"Oh….sorry just thinking of something else. Well, I'd like to believe that in order to catch an Anbu by surprise, especially that team, than the opponent's level must be at least S-ranked."

"I'm with Naruto on this…" Asuma said, before Anko could retaliate. "C'mon Anko, Soujiro were among the best Anbu captains ever to grace our village next to Kakashi. Also, I believe you all read the report. There weren't any signs of struggle or heavy usage of chakra in the proximity. For someone to kill that guy, at least a couple S-ranked shinobi would be needed."

Kurenai was silent the entire time, though she preferred it this way. Asuma and Naruto developed a nice bond over the time and she enjoyed seeing him like this. She knew the man had Shikamaru as well, but with him, it was more of a talk between student and sensei, not between friends. Anko, for her part, pouted because Naruto didn't stick to her side against Asuma, much to the blond's enjoyment, since he just loved seeing her pout like that.

The night carried out fine. Naruto and Asuma shared a nice portion of _Gyoza_ (Chinese cupcakes, normally stuffed with pork meat or vegetables) followed by a bottle of sake while talking about new wind techniques and missions. The girls settled with a portion of _suna sashimi, _while Anko decided to have a nice sip of the guy's sake, earning a sigh in dismay from Naruto and laughter from Asuma and Kurenai. Naruto, so far, was enjoying his evening next to his girlfriend and his friends. Though he was dreading the necessary conversation he needed to talk to Anko about. It was worse since they were having a great time and throwing a sensitive topic such as the Akatsuki would no doubt ruin the entire night.

But it was necessary, he reasoned.

However when he was about to open his mouth and speak with Anko, he was surprised when Kurenai asked him about the _pain in the ass _organization as the blond liked to call them.

"I'm sorry could you repeat the question Kurenai, I didn't hear you" He needed confirmation, before looking at his girlfriend.

"I asked when do you think Akatsuki will come after you?"

Now Naruto was backed in a corner. So far, he foresaw trouble in telling Anko about the inevitable battle that may cost his life as well as the village if things escalate to unseen proportions. Looking around the table, he realized with a sigh, that Kurenai's question wasn't a surprise to either Asuma or Anko, so it meant that they already knew.

"I don't know Kurenai, I just don't know. Uchiha Itachi is with them and he knows every hidden entrance there is to the village. I hate the thought of being seating ducks inside the strongest village of the elemental nations. They might as well be here already and killing everyone without alerting a single Anbu patrol." To this point, the group just settled in listening to the blond's rambling. It was like the noise coming from the crowded pub vanished and Naruto was the only one talking. But all three of them understood the seriousness of the situation. S-ranked missing-nins were coming to Konoha, one of them being Uchiha Itachi and the other Hoshigaki Kisame. Not to mention the third one, whose skills were a complete mystery to everyone.

Anko, though, didn't like seeing her boyfriend like this. Naruto was stronger and faster than pretty much every jounin in this village. And even now when the Kyuubi's chakra merged with his own, he could be on the same level as the Sannin. Despite all these attributes, she could clearly see that he was underestimating his own skills and that could mean his death out there. She needed to do something for his sake.

"Naruto, stop..." Anko said, calling her boyfriend's attention, before she continued. "You have to stop underestimating yourself or Kisame will kick your ass out there."

The blond looked at her for a while, wondering if she was right or just saying this to cheer him up. But he knew much about his girlfriend to the point that the woman would never waste her time trying to cheer someone up with small talk. It wasn't her style. She was the most gorgeous woman in the world for him, but she was just as tough and Naruto knew that. Therefore, he realized that anything coming out of her mouth wasn't any different from the sincere and honest truth.

"Come on man, you made jounin faster than everyone of us here. You have some skills that everyone in the village only dreamed of and now you're scared of S-ranked missing-nins? I'm sorry, but I don't know this Naruto. The Naruto I know never quits, even when the odds are against him. And I speak for everyone here when I say that it's Akatsuki that should worry about you, not the other way around." Anko said, as she looked at both Asuma and Kurenai for confirmation, before seeing them nod.

"We'll be there with you every step of the way Naruto. But I'm sure you won't need our help. You got the skills to beat Kisame." Asuma said, earning a smile from the blond at the vote of confidence.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the vote of confidence everyone gave him; first Aoi and now his girlfriend and friends.

Besides, he needed complete confidence in himself in order to beat Kisame and sulking like he was doing wouldn't do him any good. Kisame was a monster in terms of skills, but Naruto had now more experience and an entire new arsenal of techniques to back him up. He had the skills to beat ex-member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He just lacked the confidence to do so. Looking at his friends, Naruto smiled and nodded, before raising his glass in appreciation for the vote of confidence.

After that, the four shared a new bottle of sake and then left to their respective houses. Anko and Naruto said their goodbyes to Asuma and Kurenai, before heading to Naruto's apartment. They were in dead silence, but Anko could see a new vigor in Naruto's visage and smiled in response. It was this confident Naruto that she fell in love with and she would be damned if she lost him because of underestimation alone. After all, she knew that they had a future together as the next generation of the Namikaze Clan and it wouldn't be a group of S-ranked lunatics that will ruin their lives.

Without saying anything, she just grabbed his hand, before walking together as a real couple. Naruto looked at her, before seeing that smile on her face that pretty much illuminated the darkness ahead of them. To him, that smile was everything he ever wanted and he thanked Kami for that mission to one of Orochimaru's bases.

**

* * *

****===Next day===**

Next day, Naruto and his team started training early. He communicated that the team wouldn't have missions outside the village for a while to which, surprisingly, no one protested. When he asked, it was Kaoro who answered that all three of them enjoyed honing their skills as much as going out on missions, earning a smile from Naruto. The Hokage selected a few C and D-ranked missions for them to complete which was considered inside the village territory. So, Naruto considered training them in the morning, before completing the missions in the afternoon.

After a nice hour of warm-ups, the group was gathered in the center of their preferred training ground, while Naruto was giving them some instructions.

"Okay team, so far you've all excelled my expectations regarding all the necessary skills a shinobi should possess. Taijutsu, stealth, ninjutsu, agility…you three have it all. However, and for this I take all the blame for, you three lack in genjutsu. I admit I focus little of my time with illusionary techniques, but that's because I have way too much chakra and as you know, the bigger the chakra the harder it is to control. However, I wouldn't be a very good sensei if I neglected the basics of illusions to you three. So, I'll teach you two techniques that may save your life or the life of your comrades in the future. Now, can anyone give me an explanation on how to properly conduct a genjutsu technique?" Naruto asked, before he saw Aoshi respond first, as usual.

"Genjutsu is created when a shinobi extends his chakra flow through their opponent's cerebral nerve system, thus tampering with their chakra system."

"Precise as usual, Aoshi. Indeed, tampering with the opponent's chakra is the key to genjutsu…." Naruto said but was interrupted by Taki.

"Oh come on sensei, genjutsu are a waste of time. I thought you'd be teaching us a new ninjutsu." Taki said, before Kaoro smacked him in the head because of the man's disrespect.

"No Taki, genjutsu are not a waste of time. In fact, in some occasions, genjutsu are more dangerous than the jutsus you possess in your arsenal. All three of you studied genjutsu in the academy, right? With it, you can alter the opponent's reality, either by forcing him to watch his worst nightmare or his greatest desire, thus taking his attention away from the fight. You all could be killed without even realizing what happened and that's how illusions are dangerous. You never know what's coming. There is a friend of mine, whose skills centers on genjutsu and she is considered a master at illusions here in Konoha."

After Naruto's explanation, Taki nodded, although he wasn't entirely thrilled to be learning about genjutsu.

"Okay, I'll teach you guys two low-level genjutsu techniques as well as the standard way of breaking the genjutsu. I managed to copy the necessary information for what I'm about to teach in this scroll. Also, I don't expect any of you to be able to perform the techniques right now, but I want all of you to learn them, in case any of you faces a genjutsu user in the future. Now, the technique's names are _**Ninpou Yuuhatsu Nerumi**__ (Ninja art Induced Sleep Technique)_ and _**Magen Narakumi no Jutsu**__ (Demonic Illusion Hell Viewing Technique)_…"

With that, Naruto proceeded to explain the theory behind the two techniques, before seeing his three students testing the jutsu on each other. Needless to say, Taki was the guinea pig as both Aoshi and Kaoro had more expertise as far as chakra control was concerned. Naruto knew that it would take time for them to learn these two techniques, but he was sure both of them would come in handy in the future.

Afterwards, in the afternoon, the team completed a few D-ranked missions, before going home.

**

* * *

****===next day===**

The next day, nine ninjas with black robes stood before the huge village gates as they devised their plan of infiltration. They managed to avoid all the Anbu patrols located throughout the path heading to the village and now they were face to face with the strongest ninja village in existence. Pein, the leader, could very well see the hidden barrier erected throughout the entire village and he knew the schematics behind it.

As soon as one stepped a foot inside the village, they would be able to pinpoint the invader's location and act accordingly.

However, there was a flaw to this system and that would be more than one enemy at the same time. Konoha's radar would think only one enemy managed to trespass, but in reality, there will be nine S-ranked shinobis to face.

"Itachi, Kisame, each of you will pick a side to enter the village while I'll go from the top. After that, you'll scatter and look around for the Jinchuuriki. Use whatever means necessary to do so. You know how to contact me after you find him." Pein explained the plan, earning a nod from the members as they vanished, leaving the six pains and Konan. One of the pains, a red-haired girl known as **Chikushoudou** (Animal Realm) prepared to be thrown by the other body, with pale skin and a goofy smile on its face known as **Shuradou** (Asura Realm).

Akatsuki's plan was now set in motion.

However, none of them noticed a small sized blue toad jumping near them. Just as all of them vanished, the little guy communicated the organization's plans to Gamakichi inside the village. He, then, communicated the schematics to Naruto, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Aoi. The Toad Sannin smiled at the well-executed plan and looked at Naruto's smiling figure, just about to vanish to Kisame's location. He was the one that came up with the plan to place a contingency of tracker toads throughout the village perimeter in order to warn them of the invasion. One of the toads spotted the group when they were two hours away from Konoha.

Naruto, then, instructed his team to lead the civilians away, while explaining to them the situation. All three of them wanted to help their sensei, creating a smile on Naruto's face. However, he ensured them that by saving the village's population and future generations of shinobi, they would be helping Naruto a lot more. After being sure that the villagers were taken to safety, Naruto turned to the group responsible for dealing with the Akatsuki, composed of himself, Jiraiya, Aoi and Kakashi.

"Okay, let's get them. Their positions are already pinpointed. Let's go. Gamakichi, send their position to the Hokage in order to place the Anbu and the other jounins in standby.

With it, all four of them vanished, before appearing right at the location where their opponents will be.

Jiraiya and Aoi looked up to see a small silhouette falling from the sky, before summoning five more to join her. Jiraiya and Aoi knew about their plan, even if Naruto already told them. It was common practice to attract attention to one specific point, when actually their intention was to create havoc by splitting up, thus confusing the village's system. However, the Akatsuki didn't count on the toads stationed outside the village.

As soon as the six pains landed on the ground, Jiraiya and Aoi focused on a quick succession of hand seals, before an army of earth spears charged at the six pains, forcing them to abandon their current strategy, before looking at Jiraiya and Aoi with scrutiny. The fact that Konoha was waiting for them was not considered, thus ruining the surprise attack. But what intrigued Pain was how they knew _when_ Akatsuki would arrive.

Looking around, he couldn't spot a single civilian, which meant that Konoha managed to plan in advance for a full showdown, without worry of the consequences.

**

* * *

****===At the village's west gate===**

Itachi managed to sneak inside the village without anyone seeing him. He would search for Naruto his own way, quietly and stealthily as required for this mission. As soon as he walked ten steps inside the village, Itachi jumped towards one the closest buildings. However, he was surprised when a barrage of shuriken came charging at him from his blind side. He managed to dodge by using a couple projectiles of his own, before landing on top of the building he was heading.

As soon as he landed, he saw the one who attacked him, with his hands on pocket just facing him.

"It appears we underestimated Konoha, if you knew that we were coming." Itachi said with a calculating visage as he saw the man he once came to look up to while inside the Anbu corps.

"It was naïve on your part to warn Jiraiya back then. Now the surprise attack isn't there anymore." Kakashi said as he lifted his hitai-ate to uncover his Sharingan.

"Quite true, but there is no way you would be able to know the exact time of our appearance, which means we were spotted somehow. Indeed, our surprise attack is now useless, but that doesn't mean we'll be stopped in taking Naruto back with us. I must admit that I wanted to face my kid brother right now, but seeing as what happened to him, it's safe to say he is no longer a concern of mine. Prepare yourself Kakashi-senpai…"

**

* * *

****===At the village's east gate===**

Using extreme efficiency, Kisame managed to infiltrate the village, before hiding behind a few trees. He wondered why there weren't any civilians nearby, before his instincts told him to get out of there quickly. He jumped out of the way and stuck his feet on the huge wall that protected Konoha as he saw that the trees he used to hide behind were sliced in tiny pieces. Afterwards, he saw a tall familiar blond approach the vicinity calmly as if Kisame's presence alone didn't represent much of a threat.

As the man's face became clear to the Kiri-missing ninja, he smirked at finding the one he was looking for.

However, something was off about the entire scenario. He knew that at least a great mob of villagers would be now walking around, taking care of their lives without a care in the world and that Akatsuki would have the surprise attack as an advantage. Now, seeing that Naruto appeared right where he was, the fish man realized the obvious.

Konoha knew about their approach and prepared beforehand.

"Welcome to Konohagakure Hoshigaki Kisame, my name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'll be your opponent for today." Naruto said, greeting the man to which Kisame smiled.

Even though it wasn't their initial plan, the man always enjoyed a good fight and from what he heard of the Jinchuuriki's new abilities, perhaps this could prove to be quite entertaining.

"You're quite brave, brat. You could very well flee, knowing we were coming for you. But I'm glad you didn't. This way, I can play a bit with you, before capturing that demon inside of you." Kisame said, before he dropped from the wall towards the ground and grabbed his big ass sword. Naruto just smiled at the challenge. Taking both his swords at the same time, Naruto fell into his battle stance and turned to observe his opponent. Normally, he would be focusing wind chakra through the metal, but he knew it would only be sucked by Kisame's Samehada, so he settled for speed and evasion tactics instead.

Naruto, at first, considered the attempt of explaining that the fox was now gone from his system, but he knew Kisame wouldn't simply take his word for it and leave Konoha.

Kisame smiled at the blond's weapon of choice.

"I bet you're proud of that swords of yours, brat. Indeed, it's a fine collection. Let's see if you have the skills to back it up…" Kisame said, before charging at Naruto with his Samehada. Naruto waited for the last possible minute, before using his agility, thus dodging the attack. Seeing a small opening, Naruto used his kodashi and tried to take a chunk of blue skin, but Kisame managed to place his sword in the way, before aiming a strong kick at Naruto's face. Performing some back flips, Naruto guarded his swords inside the holster and grabbed some shuriken from his pouch, before charging them with wind chakra and throwing them at Kisame.

The fish man just smirked at the pathetic attempt, before blocking the projectiles with his sword. However, because of the sword's size, his view was blocked for a few seconds, allowing Naruto to make one hand seal, before ten earth clones surrounded Kisame. Surely, Naruto could have used more damaging techniques, but the blond preferred analyzing Kisame's skills first. The clones all charged straight at Kisame, who all the time smiled while dealing with them without even breaking a sweat. However, as if Naruto was in total control of the clones, their speed practically doubled, forcing Kisame to increased his speed as well.

By this time, they were five clones against the fish man, before the man positioned his sword in front of the clones and sucked their chakras, forcing them to transform into mud. He was surprised, though, when the real Naruto came from his blind side and landed a fierce kick on his chest, sending Kisame skidding back a few meters. Naruto, then, followed with a sequence of hand seals, before finishing with the tiger seal.

_**Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu**__ (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)_

Kisame saw the attack coming his way, but nonetheless smiled as he raised a water wall in front of him, blocking the attack, before making another set of hand seals.

_**Suiton Suikoudan no Jutsu **__(Water Release: Water Shark Projectile Technique)_

The blond was surprised at the speed between jutsus and was caught full force, before flying towards a set of trees. However, Kisame was surprised when the Naruto he saw flying suddenly transformed into mud, revealing another earth clone. The man cursed at the continuous usage of clones. Looking around the vicinity, Kisame couldn't see the blond anywhere; however the man wasn't able to wipe the smile off his face. This fight was quite entertaining to him and he was hoping to see more of what this Jinchuuriki was capable of.

**

* * *

****===Jiraiya and Aoi x Pain===**

Jiraiya and Aoi were two hardened shinobis whose skills were sharpened with experience. They were considered the best amongst the elemental nations and just the mention of their names was enough for wise people to step back and foolish ones to attack without awareness of their impending doom. However, after a few traded blows, these two decided it would take all their skills in order to beat the six Pains in front of him.

Jiraiya was looking at one of the Pains, the one with the orange spiky hair and immediately froze upon remembering a student of his in Amegakure called Yahiko. So far, he knew that the Rinnegan only belonged to Nagato, although he had yet to see the raven haired little guy anywhere near their location. Now, Yahiko had too, it couldn't be possible?

Jiraiya wanted to get to the bottom of this manner, but he knew that now it was not the time. He, instead, focused on analyzing each of their opponent's skills shown so far. He remembered sending a giant fireball at them only for the fat guy to absorb it. Suddenly, he saw one of the opponents going through a series of hand seals, which he recognized as the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique).

After slamming both hands on the ground, a huge gathering of smoke soon followed, enveloping the entire area.

Out of nowhere, a huge gray rhino and what appeared to be a dog with eight heads stood watching Jiraiya and Aoi for a while, before the rhino charged at them, forcing them to scatter. Jiraiya didn't waste any time and did the same hand seals, before slamming his hands on the ground, summoning his favorite toad called Gamaken.

"**Jiraiya…what can I do to help?"** The toad asked, before Jiraiya jumped on top of him.

"Gamaken, we need to take care of those beasts over there. Think you can handle it?"

"**I'm clumsy but I'll do my best…**"

While this was going on, Aoi took the opportunity and charged against the spiky orange guy known as **Tendou** (Deva Realm), however as soon as he reached within striking distance, another one came and tried to land a powerful kick to his side, forcing Aoi to perform some back flips. Copying a move from Naruto's, while doing the back flips, he went through a series of hand seals, before slamming his hands on the ground.

_**Doton Tetsu no Yari **__(Earth Release: Iron Spears Jutsu)_

The attack came as a surprise to the Pains, but it wasn't enough as **Tendou** extended his palm and muttered a few incoherent words, before creating a kind of repelling technique that astonished Aoi. Of course, the technique wasn't only meant to stop the spears, as Aoi started flying out of nowhere, towards a sizeable building. Quickly getting away through a simple kawarimi, he turned to watch the opponents for a while. Like Jiraiya, he knew the fat guy absorbed ninjutsu related attacks and now the orange haired one emitted a strange technique capable of repelling anything. Quite possibly, he was the most dangerous of the six.

The man suddenly turned to see the rhino hitting a huge story house just as Jiraiya's toad came crashing down with its bo-staff, hitting the poor rhino on the stomach. The animal soon vanished, allowing Jiraiya to focus on the dog. However, when he turned to face the huge beast, he was surprised to see three centipedes charging his way fast. Snarling at the highly usage of heavy armory, Jiraiya asked Gamaken for some oil, while he went through the hand seals.

_**Katon Gamayu Endan **__(Fire Release: Toad Oil Fireball Technique) _

The sudden fire blast merged with the oil supplied by Gamaken and hit all three of the centipedes head on, pretty much melting them along with an entire street of houses. Jiraiya sighed at the fight's location, but he at least knew that the people were safe someplace else, otherwise a lot of innocent lives would be dead. Now, focusing on the dog, Jiraiya once again cursed as he saw the smaller of the opponents summoning yet another creature, this time a huge bird. He now realized that she would have to be taken care of first, in order to keep Konoha's damage at a minimum.

Looking at Aoi from the ground, he placed his right hand on the intercom and communicated his intentions with the man.

"_Aoi, we'll focus on the girl. She is the one summoning all these beasts. Watch out, though, the other will protect her from you.' _Jiraiya said through the intercom, before seeing his partner nod.

"_Roger that Jiraiya. It's strange, though, I've never seen such unity not even in the Anbu forces. Not one move is wasted. We must get to the bottom of this if we are to beat them." _

As soon as Aoi closed the intercom connection, he charged at the only female member of the group with his ninjato in hand. And just as he'd foreseen, one of them suddenly appeared in front of her, protecting her. This one so far hadn't shown any skills, but Aoi's target was the girl. Quickly summoning an army of earth clones in order to deal with the man, Aoi was free to charge at the girl. He could see from the corner of his eyes that another one was approaching fast, but Aoi didn't need more than a second to deal with the girl as he sliced off the woman's head, before seeing her body fall on the ground, just as his clones were dealt with. Not willing to take any chances, Aoi managed to dodge the incoming attack, before going through a sequence of hand seals.

_**Doton Doro Maisou **__(Earth Release: Mud Burial Technique)_

Immediately the woman's body started to sink below ground, dealing with one of the six Pains. Also, because of the **Chikushoudou's** (Animal Realm) defeat, the summoned animals vanished, allowing a smile from Jiraiya as he thanked Gamaken for his assistance, before the toad vanished. He, soon, joined Aoi as he looked at the five Pains in front of him. However, he was surprised when the orange haired man spoke.

"Congratulations Jiraiya-sensei. I wouldn't expect any less of your skills. Now, I'm afraid your life will end here for our path can't be deterred by mere mortals."

The pervert frowned at the proclamation of his death, but he now knew that the man in front of him wasn't Yahiko.

It was a shame really…all the time he spent training those kids only for them to turn against him twenty years later. Ever since he learned of his old student's position behind the deadliest organization known to men, Jiraiya wondered if he should have just listened to Orochimaru and Tsunade back then and just returned to Konoha. It was because of his actions that Yahiko, Nagato and Konan learned how to use their abilities, but Jiraiya's intention was to merely teach them how to survive, not use it to take over the Elemental Nations.

"I thought, since I didn't hear any news, that you were killed in the war. I know that you are not Yahiko, although you look just like him. So, who are you exactly? Only Nagato had the Rinnegan as far as I know." Jiraiya asked, confusing Aoi for a moment, but he took the opportunity to better analyze and possible gauge their skills. The orange haired ninja nodded once and answered with a clear tone of superiority.

"No, I'm not Yahiko. In fact, it's been a while since I heard of his name. My name is Pain…that is all you need to know and that's all you'll carry to your grave Jiraiya-sensei." **Tendou** explained, before he emitted the same repelling technique once more, forcing both Jiraiya and Aoi to lift an earth barrier to protect themselves. However, it wasn't enough as they were forced to scatter.

**

* * *

****===Kakashi x Itachi===**

After an amazing class between elite shinobi, Itachi looked at Kakashi with his normal Sharingan with severe scrutiny.

"I noticed a significant improvement in your skills Kakashi. I'm glad to see you didn't stop training even after so many accomplishments. Am I to believe that you managed to awake the Hatake bloodline? Itachi asked, but more as a statement as his Sharingan was able to see the white color of Kakashi's chakra. The elite jounin just settled for a nod.

"I suppose I did. Now, I'm not in the mood for conversations Itachi."

Right before Kakashi finished talking he charged his Chidori on his right hand and charged at Itachi with supreme speed, forcing Itachi to focus on his Sharingan. However, despite the ability to foresee Kakashi's future position, Itachi couldn't do anything but evade the technique, albeit barely, allowing Kakashi to land a strong reverse kick on Itachi's chest, sending him skidding a few meters. The jounin, then, started a sequence of hand seals, however he suddenly felt that his body was unable to move accordingly and he realized almost too late that he was under the effects of Itachi's genjutsu.

Quickly dispelling the technique, his eyes widened to unseen proportions when he saw Itachi a few inches in front of him with a kunai only seconds away of slicing his jugular. Deciding to use Itachi's own medicine against him, Kakashi's Sharingan started spinning, as his chakra invaded Itachi's brain nervous system. He managed to dodge, utilizing the few seconds granted to him trying to hypnotize a genjutsu user such as Itachi.

"Quite impressive Kakashi; I see that you developed your Sharingan quite nicely. However, I'm afraid we're done playing around here."

Of course, Kakashi knew what that meant as soon as the fearful Mangenkyou Sharingan materialized before him.

* * *

**Author Note**

Wow, lots of action already and I barely hit the surface.

Three S-ranked fights that have the power to decide the fate of one of the strongest hidden village in all the elemental nations. Who will emerge victorious?

Let me know what you all think and please review.

See you all next chapter for the first part's epilogue.


	28. S ranked status

**Author Note**

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Tired.

What…surprised? Until now, I never focused much attention on a single story, opting to update one story at a time. However, seeing as this will be the last chapter of this story, I opted to finish it, before focusing on the others. That being said, Cursed Eyes's update will be next. Now, without further a due, here's the last chapter of Tired.

* * *

**Chapter 28 – S-ranked status**

**Beta: Kyuubi123**

* * *

Looking through the window behind her office, Tsunade could only sigh in sadness as she witnessed the three S-ranked level battles that could very well decide the village's destiny. Right now, Konoha's finest are fighting probably the worst bunch of criminals out there. Akatsuki were composed entirely of the top elite shinobi from all the elemental nations. Konoha, despite being the strongest hidden village, didn't have more than two or three S-ranked shinobi, that being herself, Jiraiya and Aoi.

Both Kakashi and Naruto were on the same level of strength, with Kakashi having more experience, but both of them were considered A-ranked shinobi.

Would they be enough against Kisame and Itachi? Tsunade couldn't for the life of her truly answer such a question. Naruto's skills hadn't stopped rising ever since he returned from the Sasuke retrieval mission. She just couldn't figure out if the blond had any limits to his growth. But to face someone like Hoshigaki Kisame would be pushing it…a lot. Kakashi was the same mystery, because of him awakening his father's white chakra. She had half a mind in calling every Anbu that Konoha had at its disposal and attack the intruders. She feared that Konoha would lose one of its greatest fighters…most of all and this is something she couldn't help, she feared that _Naruto_ wouldn't survive.

Despite the blond continuing to prove himself worthy of wearing the jounin vest of Konohagakure, Tsunade still felt as if he needed protection somehow.

Perhaps it was because she developed a kind of motherly affection to him; however she needed to be strong right now. She was the Godaime Hokage of the village and as such, it fell on to her to protect Konoha. Tsunade suddenly heard the door opening, but she didn't feel like turning to see who it was, since the person would probably present themselves to her. Actually she just didn't want to take her eyes off of the office window.

"Tsunade-sama, I bring forth the preliminary report of the three fights so far." Tsunade recognized the man as he was the Anbu's most trustworthy analyst. She turned her neck slightly to show that she had his full attention. "Naruto-san's fight against Kisame has barely hit the surface so far, with both testing the other out. As of now, it's hard to say which side is the strongest. Jiraiya and Aoi were to face the Rinnegan user and probable leader of the organization. However, they encountered a problem."

"What was it?"

"We believed that Pein was just one individual, but instead six enemies appeared all possessing the Rinnegan eyes." The analyst reported, before hearing the Hokage gasp at the information. One was bad enough, but six…She just hoped that both Jiraiya and Aoi managed to beat them. "Jiraiya-sama and Aoi-sama managed to beat one of them, but five still remain, so it's too early to tell."

"Okay what about Kakashi's fight?"

"Their skills are equally matched so far as this is a battle of doujutsus. However, Itachi still has an advantage, which is the Mangenkyou Sharingan. So far, he hasn't use it, but once he does, Kakashi will have to find a way to beat it and fast, otherwise this fight will have the same fate as their last one here in Konoha."

Tsunade nodded at the Anbu analyst. She remembered the results of the Mangenkyou's effects on Kakashi's mind as this happened to be the first person she cured after returning to Konoha a long time ago. That time, she could see the mental breakdown of a seasoned jounin. If Gai didn't step in at that time, Tsunade was sure Kakashi would have been brain-dead, probably even worse. She just hoped Kakashi had something up his sleeve or else…Konoha would lose one of its elites.

"Taki…." Tsunade shouted as another Anbu appeared next to the analyst.

"How far are we on the barrier outside the village perimeter?" Tsunade created a simple, yet ingenious plan, in case Akatsuki decideed to make a break for it. The fuuinjutsu barrier that surrounded the village perimeter only managed to pinpoint intruder's position. However, by altering a single kanji on the jutsu specifics, she could create an impenetrable barrier, therefore trapping everyone inside. Akatsuki made a mistake thinking they could invade the strongest hidden village in all the elemental nations.

"The barrier is already at full force, Tsunade-sama. The team responsible for it has just informed me."

"Excellent. As of tomorrow, Akatsuki will no longer exist. Send word to everyone about the fight development as well as the barrier" Tsunade ordered, before the two Anbus vanished within a shunshin, leaving Tsunade alone in the room as she witnessed a typhoon being generated near Naruto's location. She smiled, upon thinking that Kisame may be an S-ranked criminal, but Naruto's near endless chakra capacity gave him a greater edge in battle.

* * *

**===Naruto x Kisame===**

Despite the force of the typhoon, Naruto narrowed his eyes at the still smirking Kisame. Immediately, he dispelled the technique and wondered why the hell the shark man was smiling, until he heard a strange noise, apparently coming from Kisame. Before he could even ask where it came from, Kisame beat him to it.

"Well, well, it's been a while since Samehada behaved this way. Your chakra must be very tasty Naruto-kun…"

Naruto was surprised when his opponent removed the bandages from the sword. Several spikes appeared out of nowhere and what appeared to be a mouth snickering in excitement.

Thinking over Kisame's explanation, Naruto suddenly remembered the first time he encountered the ex-mist ninja with Itachi when he was with Jiraiya searching for the Godaime Hokage's location. He remembered when he tried to summon some chakra only for it to be sucked by Kisame's sword Samehada. At the time, he thought nothing of it, but now he was considering his strategy, since he would only be wasting chakra by using techniques on his opponent, despite the fact that his chakra capacity now surpassed the equivalent of a tailed beast.

"I kind of forgot about that irritant sword of yours, Kisame. I guess that heavy chakra techniques would only make it grow even more huh?"

Quickly taking both his katana and kodashi, Naruto charged at Kisame, who for his part, smirked at the choice of fighting. As the blond approached, he could feel his chakra getting sucked as well, but this time at a much smaller rate than when he was using ninjutsu. Attacking first with the katana, Kisame was fast enough in dodging, before he positioned the still growing Samehada in front of Naruto. The blond seeing no move to attack his opponent, performed a side flip and quickly attacked the man using the kodashi. However, when the attack was about to pierce Kisame's chest, once again Samehada appeared and blocked the attack.

Naruto jumped away for a bit, creating some distance between them. He had to think of something and fast.

Suddenly, the blond was surprised at the fast rate in which Kisame was making hand seals.

_**Suiton Baku Suishouha **__(Water Release: Bursting Water Collision Waves Technique)_

Kisame started gathering water up his throat, until he released everything. Quickly the arena was transformed into a small river, making Naruto curse at allowing him time to make that jutsu. Now, Naruto was fighting in his turf, not the other way around. He saw Kisame charging at him as if he was skiing on water, forcing some quick thinking on his part. Suddenly as Kisame approached his position, Naruto smirked, before forming a quick series of hand seals.

_**Doton Doryuu Taiga**__ (Earth Release: Mud River Technique)_

Kisame lost his smile as soon as he saw Naruto making hand seals. As soon as the blond finished it, gallons and gallons of mud quickly mixed with the water, hardening the path to Kisame. But the blond wasn't through as his plan was more than just neutralizing the field. Seeing that Kisame was stuck in the mud, Naruto followed suit with another jutsu, this time one which required a longer series of hand seals.

_**Doton Tetsu no Yari **__(Earth Release: Iron Spear Technique)_

The speed of the jutsu was too fast for the shark missing-nin and he was caught unprepared for the iron lance which erupted from the mud river. Kisame was sent flying, while spitting out blood from his mouth. By nature, earth techniques were stronger than water techniques and the fact that his body had a bigger percentage of water than normal humans; the technique did quite a number on him.

Naruto smirked at his quick wits, but frowned once he saw the deep cut caused by his technique simply vanish like it was never there in the first place. The blond also noticed that whereas before, the sword was growing non-stop, it receded to its normal length now. He wondered if perhaps the sword was sending the gathered chakra to Kisame, in order to close the wound generated by the earth technique. Kisame was sent skidding a couple meters because of his attack, but otherwise he was okay now thanks to the sword. Nevertheless, he now knew that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki wasn't to be underestimated.

Silently wondering the boy in front of him as well as the fact that Samehada now reverted to its usual growth, Kisame wondered about his next course of action.

However, Naruto wasn't going to allow him more time, as he managed a new sequence of hand seals, before focusing on the river of mud in front of him.

_**Doton Doryuu Nami **__(Earth Release: Mud Wave Technique)_

From Naruto's position, an enormous wave soon charged at Kisame, all intent on drowning the mist ninja under gallons and gallons of mud. However, Kisame just jumped high up the wave and threw a great barrage of shurikens and kunais at Naruto. The blond, for his turn, dodged all of the incoming projectiles and, taking a move out of Kakashi's book, threw a couple of his projectiles, knowing that Kisame was in the air and wouldn't be able to dodge.

Still in the air, Kisame placed his sword on his back while molding a quick series of three hand seals.

_**Suiton Mizu Chuuseki **__(Water Release: Water Pillar Technique)_

Naruto saw his shurikens being carried away by a strong jet of water, which was approaching quickly at his location. By sheer agility, he managed to evade the technique, before falling on the now clean river, because of his technique. He stared at Kisame from a distance with severe scrutiny as he knew the fish ninja would do the same. Somehow, Naruto knew he was being underestimated in the beginning of the battle and after the damage he did to Kisame, he knew that his opponent would now take him seriously.

"I suppose you warrant some credit, Jinchuuriki. I sort of came here expecting an easy fight and an even easier capture…"

The blond always hated such terminology. He never said anything about it in the past, because he was in fact one. However, revealing said information right now would do nothing but earn a few laughs from his opponent, before he attacked once more. For now, he would keep the secret. It would be amusing to tell the organization that their entire path was for nothing in the end.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you. But let's cut the shit shat, shall we? It's time we get serious here…" Naruto said, before he saw that Kisame smirked at his proclamation.

"By all means…_**Suiton Daibaku Suishouha **__(Water Release: Great Exploding Water Collision Waves Technique)_"

* * *

**===Itachi x Kakashi===**

Kakashi and Itachi so far were equally matched, much to Itachi's dismay. He couldn't say he was underestimating the opponent, since he pretty much loathed the word. He underestimated no one, simply because he knew the harsh reality of the ninja world. You can be the elite of the elite and still be killed with but a single lost kunai aimed to the chest. Kakashi's skills had pretty much doubled since last time and Itachi was having difficulty dealing with him.

Right now, only their blurs could be seen as both exchanged kunai blows one after another.

Kakashi, for his part, considered himself lucky so far. However, he knew that once Itachi used one of the Mangenkyou Sharingan's techniques, than his luck would end. To this point though, the silver haired jounin wondered why the hesitation. As he dodged the incoming fireball, Kakashi could see his opponent's future moves with his lone Sharingan eye. Therefore, he was able to parry Itachi's strong blow with his right arm, before aiming a roundhouse kick at the Uchiha. Itachi, though, not only defended but also grabbed Kakashi's leg and dragged him to the ground, before looking directly at his eyes for a moment.

One second was enough for him as Kakashi saw the Mangenkyou materializing in front of him.

_**Tsukyomi**__ (God of the Moon Technique) _

Instantly, Kakashi was pulled to the red world of Itachi's creation as he was trapped in the same wooden cross. He could see the same illusion of various Itachis holding swords, all of them ready to torture him into submission and eventually break his mind to the point of no return.

"I must say Kakashi-senpai, you fought bravely thus far, but I'm afraid this fight is over. In here, I'm in complete control. I'll now torture you for seventy two hours straight"

Kakashi heard all of the Itachis speaking in unison, but this time it would be different.

"Not this time Itachi. I trained my eyes until exhaustion in preparation for this day. Your genjutsu won't work on me anymore…" Kakashi said, as he closed his eyes in preparation for a little ace up his sleeve that he has been saving for this fight exclusively. When he opened his eyes, Itachi was startled to see a new form of Sharingan, but what surprised him was that instead of a black figure, Kakashi's was white.

_**Kamui **__(God's Majesty Technique)_

Itachi only had time to see a kind of portal opening in front of him, before they returned to the outside world. Because of the sudden power displayed, Itachi's eyes started burning, before a great deal of blood came out of them. The Uchiha was clueless regarding this skill that Kakashi had displayed. He knew that the man carried Uchiha Obito's eyes, but by all means, he never saw a white Sharingan before. His vision was blurry, but he could see that his opponent was feeling the same backlash from his doujutsu. This was Itachi's salvation, though, as he had time to recuperate. His eyes stopped burning and Itachi followed with a great sequence of hand seals, alerting Kakashi.

_**Katon Housenka no Jutsu **__(Fire Release: Mythical Phoenix Flower Technique)_

Despite the burning sensation, Kakashi forced down the pain and managed to dodge the incoming fireballs, as he threw a couple of shuriken at Itachi. Quickly focusing on a single hand seal, Kakashi turned the two shurikens into forty as all of them charged at Itachi with great danger. The Uchiha, though, managed to dodge them all by jumping towards a rather huge tree nearby. He looked down at his opponent and noticed that despite the previous feeling of pain, Kakashi's new Sharingan was still activated.

Kakashi, though, wouldn't allow Itachi the time to do anything and he managed a fast sequence of hand seals, until he finished with the Taki (bird) hand seal.

_**Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu **__(Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile Technique)_

Behind Itachi, a gigantic dragon started to take shape, until it struck at the Uchiha's old location, pretty much destroying the tree he was standing on. Itachi decided that some close combat was in order. He charged Kakashi, before throwing the Akatsuki robe in front of him so that Kakashi wouldn't see his position. True to his plan, the Uchiha landed a fierce kick on Kakashi, sending him skidding a couple meters. Itachi, then, connected another series of punches and kicks, before the silver haired jounin managed to block the strikes and land some quick moves of his own. Overall, the fight was equally matched in all three areas of the ninja arts.

Kakashi could see with his new improved Sharingan that Itachi was channeling more chakra to his eyes, which meant that the man was about to use his Mangenkyou once more. Not waiting to see what it was, Kakashi jumped just in time, avoiding the black fames of **Amaterasu** (Goddess of the Sun Technique). Kakashi managed to stand on another tree located behind him as he saw the terrible black flames burning everything it touched.

He knew about these flames and the fact that no amount of water would be able to extinguish them. He feared that not him but all of Konoha would succumb to this powerful and deadly technique. Looking at Itachi, he was startled to see the man doubling in pain on the ground, spitting blood from his mouth. A sudden realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He thought this fight was equally matched, but from the looks of things, Itachi wasn't fighting one hundred percent. From the looks of things, the man was sick, no strike that, he looked like death would come to him any minute now.

As Kakashi landed in front of Itachi, the Uchiha looked up.

"It's somewhat strange to see you coming to a fight as sick as you are Itachi. I heard stories in Anbu that you were never caught unprepared while on a mission."

After cleaning the amount of blood that came out of his mouth and eyes, Itachi got up and looked at his brother in the Anbu forces. Hatake Kakashi was a man he greatly respected a long time ago. Itachi followed in his footsteps, graduating the academy at an early age, becoming chunnin before the age of ten and Anbu captain by their 13th birthday.

"There is no return for me Kakashi-senpai. This sickness appeared once I awakened the Mangenkyou Sharingan. Since then, it's only gotten worse. I actually came here to Konoha wanting to engage my little brother in combat and…die by his hands. However, I'm afraid Sasuke was too driven by hatred and ended up betraying this very village. It's a shame really…I hoped to salvage the clan by letting him live, but in the end…everything was for nothing."

Kakashi could see the level of shame in Itachi's visage and he understood it completely. Uchiha Sasuke was not only Itachi's responsibility but Kakashi's also, not only because of Uchiha Obito, but the fact that he was Sasuke's Jounin-sensei, therefore responsible for his well-being. Kakashi feared that he would take Sasuke's place as Itachi's executioner.

"Senpai…I'm afraid it's going to be you that will be the one to end my life and avenge all those that fell victim to my blade. However, don't simply expect me to kneel and surrender. You're still due to beat me and if you can't, then Naruto will be next."

_**Susanoo**_

Kakashi jumped immediately as a strange creature emerged from behind Itachi. Despite the fact that his opponent was almost on the verge of collapsing right in front of him, Kakashi couldn't help but respect the former Anbu captain as even in such a shape, he had the strength to perform such a technique. Nevertheless, the silver haired jounin wasn't intimidated. Itachi wasn't the only one with secret Sharingan techniques to use.

* * *

**===Naruto x Kisame===**

Naruto was considered quite fast for his age, now even doubled because of his chakra being fused with the Kyuubi's. So, why the hell didn't he stop the shark shinobi when Naruto saw him gathering a strong amount of chakra inside his lungs? Now, trapped within a large dome of water, Naruto was cursing his stupidity for once more letting the man finish his god damn techniques. The problem was that now Naruto's chakra was being sucked in a quicker pace, meaning that he had to end this quickly or else…

He tried swimming to the end of the dome, confident that he would be able to escape.

However, Naruto stopped short once he felt immeasurable pain on his left arm. Reaching the wound with his left hand, he felt it burning intensely. Suddenly, a creature appeared in front of him with a much familiar smirk that was beginning to get on Naruto's usually calm nerves. Somehow he knew it was Kisame, despite the now different and much more grotesque form. Naruto right now couldn't ascertain that the man in front of him was even human based on what his eyes were showing. Kisame's mouths elongated and its teeth got bigger. Also three flippers appeared, two behind his two arms and one on the back.

_He must have some sort of personal attachment to the animal or something. _

Naruto knew now wasn't the time for jokes, though. Analyzing the situation, despite the fact that he couldn't hold much his breath for much longer, Naruto figured that it would be useless to try swimming away from his opponent. Obviously, he wasn't on his turf (dry land) and the opponent had flippers that would allow him to move within seconds and reach Naruto's position. Now, the only alternative left was to focus all his energy into one attack and hope for the best. It was his strongest fuuton technique ever and he only used once in order to impress his judges for the Jounin promotion.

He couldn't find another alternative unless he had a death wish.

Focusing, immediately, on the ram seal, Naruto gathered as much chakra as he could muster, until a strong blue aura surrounded him, surprising Kisame. The man knew about Naruto's huge chakra capacity, however he was intelligent enough to realize that it was impossible for the blond to have this much chakra and not even once did he feel any demonic chakra rising. Naruto looked at Kisame and smiled upon seeing the shark charging at him fast.

He only had one choice and that was it. Closing his eyes, Naruto started concentrating on his strongest fuuton technique ever. This technique required his complete concentration in order to be successful. Just one mere slip in concentration was enough to ruin the entire procedure and for Naruto it would mean certain death. He could already count the remaining seconds before he would be forced to open his mouth and let the water in his lungs. Going through the hand seals in a rather fast succession, despite his movements being restricted by the pond of water, Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and Kisame could see chakra leaking out of the blond nonstop.

The shark shinobi was now at mere inches away from landing a severe blow on Naruto when the blond finished the hand seal sequence.

_**Fuuton Kamikaze **__(Wind Release: Divine Wind Technique)_

To the fighters, it seemed as time stopped when Kisame's claws were almost scratching Naruto's chest. One second later, though, the shark like shinobi felt the incredible wind force gathering around the blond as it started growing nonstop. He was sent flying from the blond as he watched the blond's technique become a tremendous whirlpool with Naruto on the center, controlling the technique. The man tried fleeing away from the dangerous technique, but he was instead being pushed back, until the whirlpool hit him dead on. Because of fuuton's piercing and slashing capabilities, Kisame received every bit of the technique's power that not even Samehada managed to fix this time.

His body was incredibly battered and bruised, up to the point that he couldn't withhold his technique any longer and the dome of water simply vanished.

Both opponents were sent flying, but Naruto was just happy to allow fresh air to fill his lungs once more, before he managed to use the flying momentum and maneuver his body in order to land safely on a treetop. Kisame, though, wasn't such lucky. His sword was sent in a different direction and his body was pretty much destroyed from Naruto's powerful technique. Despite the feeling of everything broken inside, he looked at the approaching blond and saw that Naruto was still trying to recover his breathing and a long list of cuts was evident on Naruto's arm.

After all this time…after all the time Kisame was in active duty, he admitted to being beaten by a mere brat who just now earned his position as a Jounin. He saw Naruto taking his katana out of its scabbard, holding it with his two hands. Merely smiling at his imminent death, he didn't even have time before Naruto's blade drove deep into Kisame's throat killing the man instantly.

Naruto, for his part, looked at the dead body of Hoshigaki Kisame, former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Even though the man was the enemy, this man was maybe Naruto's toughest enemy so far in his career. The last technique he pulled was his last resort and if somehow Kisame managed to come out unscathed, then the blond would have either drown or be killed by Kisame's sharpened claws.

_I can't waste time here…I need to help the others._

Breathing a little about, Naruto focused on the closest battle to his position and went there. He knew that Konoha would take care of Kisame's body that's why he never bothered to look back.

* * *

**===Jiraiya and Aoi x Pein===**

If the other fights were considered S-ranked, this one was considered a battle between gods.

Jiraiya and Aoi stood against now four members of the Organization. The Animal Realm was beaten by Aoi and Jiraiya managed to land a precise suiton technique that managed to slice **Ningendou** (Pein Human Realm)'s head off. Both were surprised when instead of bones or body parts, scrap metal could be seen inside. Akatsuki was indeed full of mysteries, ones that neither one of the S-ranked ninja were managing to solve.

However, now was not the time to study their opponent's physiology, rather how to deal with them and those eyes.

Possessing a great deal of experience, both Jiraiya and Aoi began to have a breakthrough regarding their opponent's movements. The girl Aoi managed to beat had the ability to summon a different range of animals. The fat member **Gakidou** (Hungry Ghost Realm) had the ability to absorb ninjutsu techniques. He was about to absorb Jiraiya's suiton technique, when Aoi came from under the ground and trapped him, allowing Jiraiya to finish the other guy.

Looking at the rest, they could see that both the fat member and the weird smiling individual **Shuradou** (Asura Realm) was in front while the person that looked like Yahiko and the other was on the back. To the untrained shinobi, it meant nothing, however to both S-ranked shinobi, it was rather obvious. In a war, it was customary to place the pawns up front and the leaders in the back, protected.

Aoi suddenly started a long series of hand seals, before he slammed both hands on the ground.

_**Doton Kyoumou Jishin **__(Earth Release: Fierce Earthquake Technique)_

The entire ground started shaking to unseen proportions lifting up a few rocks near the enemy's location, blocking their vision for a couple seconds. This allowed Jiraiya to pick up a target and eliminate quickly, decreasing their disadvantage to only three. Moving quickly, he maneuvered behind the fat member, recognizing him as the most potential threat to Konoha's victory. Jiraiya was sure to deliver a solid hit to the man's neck, surely breaking. However and much to his surprise, the man simply lifted his arm and blocked it. However, Jiraiya knew he was facing the other way. Jumping back, he looked back to see that the man looking like Yahiko was looking at the scene.

_Not a single move wasted…I'm not one to brag much, but my speed is considered S-ranked. There is no way in hell he would be able to lift his arm to block like he did. _

As he landed next to Aoi, he heard a clearing of throat and looked to his partner in crime. Probably, he managed to figure out Jiraiya's questions.

"Have you noticed, Jiraiya? When you attacked him just now, you managed to get into his blind side and attacked, correct? During that time, one of the other guys was watching you the whole time"

"I noticed that as well, so what?" Jiraiya asked, as he was rather intrigued with this new set of eyes before him.

"It would be impossible for him to know the exact point of impact without looking, which mean that they are communicating with each other, somehow." A dead silence soon followed, as Aoi now looked at the rest of them in order to find out some common characteristic. It didn't take three seconds before he wanted to punch himself from not noticing sooner. "That's it! It's their eyes…All of them had the same eyes. Suppose that all of them could share what they see with each other…"

"Enabling their eyes to share images with one another…is that it? That's the power of the Rinnegan…" Jiraiya completed, shocked by such coordination.

"That's what I suspect anyways…At least now we know who or rather what we are dealing with. Any thoughts?"

"One, but you'd have to hold them off for a bit, while I complete the transaction. It's a complex procedure, after all…_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu **__(Summoning Technique)_

Aoi only nodded, before he summoned a great ordeal of earth clones to distract the enemies so that Jiraiya could complete whatever he had in mind. The pervert, for his chance, was seemingly talking with what appeared to be two little toads. Because of the small chakra necessary to produce the earth bunshins, Aoi managed to create a small army, while checking his partner. He, then, saw the toads jumping on the pervert's shoulders, before all three of them joined hands in a praying position.

As a proud member of the Sannin, Jiraiya was a man of secrets. He and Orochimaru shared that much. Every time Aoi saw the man in action, he would just pull something off that was unheard of. While creating army after army of earth clones and attack the enemies, the man just knew that whatever Jiraiya intended in doing would be incredible. Suddenly, though, as Aoi was about to summon his forth army of clones, one of the enemies just showed his right palm and muttered something that Aoi couldn't hear, because of the distance.

_**Shinra Tensei **__(Divine Judgment Technique)_

The ex Iwa-nin was sent flying together with his clones as he crashed inside a nearby store, shocking Jiraiya enough to drive away his concentration of the technique. Problem was that he still had a long way to go before it was finished and he saw the enemies looking at him. However and much to his relief, Aoi charged from the debris straight towards one of the closest ones that looked like Yahiko. The opponent, though, saw the movement from the corner of his Rinnegan Eyes. Quickly lifting his right hand, Pein used the same technique once more, only for Aoi to melt into mud, surprising the Akatsuki.

A quick flare of chakra alerted the enemy, but Aoi was on the last hand seal.

_**Doton Tetsusou **__(Earth Release: Rising Iron Spikes Technique) _

The pein bodies immediately scattered away from the hundreds of iron spikes that now filled the area. Aoi, immediately, appeared in front of Jiraiya while protecting him.

"How much longer…? I can't hold them." Aoi asked, now losing his cool over Jiraiya's mysterious technique. The man wasn't averse to flashy ninjutsu, but he always loathed how some shinobi, especially in Konoha, who are only interested in techniques that would make the creator famous. A ninja's reputation is his experience in the battle field, not some flashy jutsu here or there. Jiraiya, for his part, snorted at being pressured but simply nodded.

"A couple more minutes, Aoi…"

Aoi and Jiraiya were surprised when a great load of strange looking projectiles flew at them with extreme speed, like they were on fire.

To Aoi, there was time for only one quick technique as he finished a four hand seal, before smashing both hands on the ground.

_**Doton Tetsuheki **__(Earth Release: Iron Wall Technique)_

As the missiles approached, a sudden iron wall lifted from the ground in front of Aoi. Upon impact, a huge explosion occurred and the noise echoed throughout the entire village. Aoi smiled, though, seeing that the wall was able to resist the blast. However, his eyes widened in surprise as he heard the first crack. Looking towards the middle of the wall, Aoi could just watch as it started to crumble under the pressure. Granted that this wasn't his absolute defense, but so far no one was able to penetrate the iron wall technique. As the wall was destroyed, Aoi was caught by surprise as the weird looking one of the bunch appeared in front of him with what looked like a drill on his head.

It went past Aoi's stomach, as he was sent flying with a closes fist size hole in his stomach. While flying, he spilled a lot of blood, until his back hit the ground, spilling more blood. The Pein body that attacked was now transformed like a battle puppet. He stood in front of the still bleeding and agonizing Aoi on the ground, all but ready to deliver the killing blow. Jiraiya snarled at the situation, but he couldn't just stop his technique now and help Aoi.

Suddenly, as the drill once again approached Aoi's chest, something happened that surprised everyone in the field, including the ex-iwa ninja who believed that his time was up and he would finally meet his loved ones.

_**RASENGAN!**_

Naruto came to the rescue as he landed a fierce spiraling ball on the Pein body's chest, saving Aoi from imminent death. The spiraling ball of energy suddenly expanded, enveloping the enemy-nin entirely, before his body exploded, sending spare parts and blood all over the place. Naruto looked at the situation in front of him. Jiraiya was doing something strange and Aoi was agonizing on the ground. Upon seeing his mentor there on the verge of dying, Naruto realized he couldn't let that happen.

The man was like a mentor to him in more ways than even Kakashi or Jiraiya. Quickly summoning a kage bunshin, it grabbed Aoi's bleeding body and took him to be treated by the best medic-nin and Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure.

"Finally we meet each other…Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko"

The blond turned to the source of the voice, before checking the dreaded black robe with red clouds. There were four of them all staring at him and the blond wondered if any of them could even feel demonic chakra. For a group who was willing to hunt down bijuus, it would be expected of them to be able to sense the presence of demonic energy. So why the hell did they keep referring to him as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He looked around and witnessed the level of destruction caused by their fight, before cursing as all this was because of him.

"Naruto…" Jiraiya called the blond, earning his attention.

The blond was surprised to see a totally different Jiraiya. Somehow, the two toads standing on each of his shoulders didn't bother Naruto. What bothered him was why the man's appearance changed so much. Jiraiya was grotesque. His eyes were strangely similar to the toads, just as his hands and feet. However, he knew better than supposing that the only thing that changed in the sannin was his appearance.

"From your appearance, it seems that you encountered one of them as well, right?"

"Yeah, Hoshigaki Kisame is dead. Though I was lucky that my chakra capacity is near endless or else he would have beat me and capture me"

Jiraiya was impressed, but nonetheless not surprised at the fact that Uzumaki Naruto fought Hoshigaki Kisame at full force and won. Aoi did say that Naruto would become a legend in the future and he was right. The blond was officially considered an A-ranked shinobi, based on his skills and chakra capacity. However, upon beating an S-ranked criminal, Jiraiya could easily update the boy's level right now.

"Glad to hear it…now this enemy is different. Since Aoi is now being treated by Tsunade, I'll need your help. A great mystery surrounds this opponent and I haven't been able to solve it yet. Nonetheless, to this point, we have to separate them. Somehow they are communicating with each other and I suspect it's those eyes. Each one of them has different skills that complement each other up to the point that would be impossible to beat them together. Separated, though, we have a chance. Now, follow me and attack when I say to…use your strongest offensive technique."

Naruto nodded just as Jiraiya focused on the hand seals as both him and the toads started gathering some air inside their lungs.

_**Senpou Goemon **__(Hermit Art: Boiling Oil Technique)_

Jiraiya spat an oil beam, while the toads gathered fire and wind beams, creating an incredibly powerful technique, surprising Naruto. He saw the giant wave of burning oil charging at the enemy. He, then, saw one of them appearing in front of the incoming technique, before his hands started flowing. In seconds, Naruto saw something he never seen before. The man was absorbing the technique like it was nothing.

"Naruto, do it now…while he's busy."

The blond didn't need to be told once more as he went through a large series of hand seals for a fuuton technique. It wasn't the strongest technique on his arsenal, but he was sure it would get the job done. It's been some time since he last used it and he was sure that because of the fox's chakra fusing with his own, the technique would be much stronger now. As soon as he finished the hand seal sequence with the bird seal, wind started swirling around him like it was out of control.

_**Fuuton Suidou no Tatsumaki **__(Wind Release: Tornado Tunnel Technique)_

Immediately, the generated wind charged at the man who was still busy absorbing Jiraiya's technique, until his eyes landed on the powerful swirl of wind coming towards him, lifting debris along its patch. Its speed, as expected, had improved so was its power. Naruto could feel it as the horizontal tornado managed to send the fat guy flying towards the sky. The power of the wind was so grand that the man's head was sliced instantly.

* * *

**===At Kumogakure===**

Far away from the three fights, four black robed criminals were jumping amongst the hills that make up the entrance to the hidden village in the clouds. Kakuzu, Hidan and Deidara were searching for their mission, while the rest of the organization was busy with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. However, if the hunt took one more minute, Kakuzu was sure he would feel like killing at least one of his so called comrades.

"Oh Deidara, get the fuck down here and help us find the Hachibi Jinchuuriki" Shouted Hidan to the shadow a few meters up high.

"Shut it Hidan…"

"You shut it asshole, get down here and I'll kick your ass…"

Hearing the altercation, Kakuzu tried very hard to calm down while massaging his temples. He tried not to, but every damn curse word he heard, his mind went through every damn technique he could use to yank their heads off. Trying to focus on the task at hand, the shinobi they tortured a few minutes prior told that the Hachibi Jinchuuriki trained every day near a place called **Unraiko** (Storm Cloud Ravine).

After a set of mountains, the group stopped in front of a large set of stairs that led to a cavern entrance. And quite to the ninja's information, a dark skinned and quite bulky shinobi left the cave, carrying eight swords on his back. Problem was that the man wasn't alone as another bulky individual left right behind him. He had gray hair and his muscles were easily bigger than anyone the Akatsuki has ever seen. It was Kakuzu that managed to identify the man as the Yondaime Raikage of Kumogakure and brother of the Hachibi Jinchuuriki. It was really uncalled for as they expected the Jinchuuriki to be alone as per Zetsu's Intel.

The two Kumo shinobi looked down the steps and spotted the four Akatsuki members. 'A' just snorted at the presence of the so called Akatsuki group and looked at his brother, who just happened to be the group's target. The man remembered the Sannin Jiraiya's warning a long time ago and how he almost didn't accept his brother's invitation to a 'friendly' spar at the Unraiko caves.

He would have missed one hell of a party.

"Three against two huh? It seems we're in a bit of a disadvantage huh brother" Said the Raikage to his brother, before smiling upon sensing the energy radiating from Killer Bee.

"It appears so…I am not complaining though. Fighting in disadvantage is what we always carve for"

_**(AN: I can't rap…so I won't write a rapping Killer Bee, sorry!)**_

_**

* * *

**_

**===With Kakashi===**

As Kakashi used his Sharingan technique on Itachi's Susanoo, he watched the creature being sucked to another dimension, before Itachi kneeled on the ground, spitting a lot of blood. The Uchiha genius didn't know that Kakashi's Sharingan was so advanced, despite not being surprised. His Sharingan wasn't the same as Uchiha Obito's. It was different somehow, in power. Susanoo was, so far, the Clan's strongest defense technique and the shield was responsible for blocking all types of offensive techniques.

He just didn't realize that Kakashi would be able to beat it so easily.

"Indeed you're proven your skills and reputation Kakashi-sempai."

Itachi said as he started coughing uncontrollably. The man knew it was his time to perish. The disease reached its peak and his vision was completely blurred. Despite it all, he got up and approached Kakashi with his two fingers starched. Kakashi was suffering because of his eyes as well and couldn't stop Itachi from placing his fingers in between Kakashi's eyes. The scarecrow shinobi flinched upon contact, wondering what else Itachi could do at this point.

"Dangerous path awaits Konoha in the future Kakashi." Itachi muttered as he maintained both fingers in between Kakashi's eyes. "There is a man far powerful than me and every Akatsuki combined. And in order to ... beat him, you'll need every help you can get. Please protect Konoha in my stead…and somehow try to breat some sense into my kid brother's thick skull."

As soon after Itachi said his parting words, he started falling on the ground slowly, before Kakashi grabbed him.

His eyes were completely devoted of any life. Kakashi just closed them, before doing a small doton jutsu, digging a hole on the ground big enough to create a funeral for the Uchiha genius. It was the least he could do in respect for a man who, above all, loved his village and sacrificed his blood thirsty family. As he whispered a silent prayer to the gods, Kakashi was still blissfully unaware of Itachi's parting gift as he now possesses a set of full-fledged Sharingan eyes, instead of just one.

* * *

**===With Naruto===**

_**Shinra Tensei**_

The strong technique managed to send both Jiraiya and Naruto flying, while Jiraiya managed to recover himself, by flipping his body. Landing between a couple rocks, the perverted sannin launched a gigantic fireball at the Peins, but the technique was repelled by the man who looked like Yahiko. Only three enemies left, but Jiraiya knew that Yahiko was the strongest as well as the most protected of them.

Jiraiya paled once he saw the man lifting his hands once more and stood for one more repelling technique, however he was surprised when instead of being thrown backwards, he flew towards the enemy's grasp. His body was totally controlled as his body approached the enemy. Suddenly, he saw some kind of chain saw come out of the other enemy's back. He calculated his trajectory and realized that the chain saw would pierce his stomach. The man cursed as a jutsu would take too long to perform. Quickly reverting to a simple Kawarimi, Jiraiya shot another powerful fireball at the one with the chain saw, only for Yahiko to repel it once more.

It was starting to get on his nerves. He saw Naruto on the corner of his eyes and saw the boy biting his thumb_**.**_

_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu **__(Summoning Technique)_

Instantly, three considerable size toads appeared in front of him as they fallen into battle positions.

"Oi Naruto, it's been a while since you called any of us, what is it that you need?" Gamabuki asked as the toad took both his swords off its scabbards.

"We need help dealing with these three individuals Gamabuki **(Sword)**, Gamariki **(Strength) **and Gamamizu **(Water)**. The one with the orange hair is the most important of them, so he's being guarded. Taking the other two is our top priority right now. Without them, Jiraiya will be free to deal with the rest" Naruto said, before he was interrupted by the enemy.

"It appears that Jiraiya-sensei taught you well, Jinchuuriki. Our Intel was falsified, I'm afraid. Nonetheless, it's useless to resist. Your capture is imminent."

As soon as those words left Pein's mouth, Naruto froze. The one who trained the enemy was none other than one of the Sannin of Konohagakure Jiraiya. Despite not receiving adequate training from the pervert in the past, Naruto enjoyed every second of the three years he spent with the pervert. He enjoyed even more upon hearing that Jiraiya was his godfather. Looking at his face, he wanted to confront him about the truth of this entire thing. It wasn't like him to align with the enemy, nor was Konoha's. Closing his eyes, the blond started controlling his emotions. Right now, the objective was to take care of Akatsuki.

"Hoshigaki Kisame said the same thing and he's dead now. Why should you be any different? Gamamizu, give me your best suiton jutsu…now"

The toad didn't need to be told twice as he started some hands seals, the same time as Naruto.

_**Suiton Hahonryuu**__ (Water Release: Destruction Torrent Technique)_

_**Fuuton Kamikaze**__ (Wind Release: Divine Wind Technique)_

The techniques soon merged to become one gigantic typhoon, before charging at the enemies, forcing all three to scatter in different directions. Because of this, Pein was ill prepared to see two battle toads charging at the Shuradou (Asura Realm). This particular Pein spotted Gamariki coming from his left, aiming for a strong blow to his neck. The toad was too quick, but he managed to dodge just in time. However, Gamabuki soon appeared behind him and used his two swords, slicing Shuradou (Asura Realm)'s head off.

All of this took no more than two seconds.

Jiraiya looked at the scene dumbfounded together with Fugasaku and Shima as he wondered what the hell happened. Fugasaku, though, only smiled as he knew about this specific strategy. The strong fuuton and suiton technique would serve as nothing more than a distraction, separating the enemy group allowing Gamariki and Gamabuki to strike one of them, in the midst of the fuss created by the ninjutsu. The pervert, though, looked at the enemy's severed head on the ground and frowned in dismay at the sudden conclusion.

_At first, I thought I was seeing things, so I didn't worry. So far, the enemies we killed weren't humans, but mere creations. That explains why all of them possess the Rinnegan eyes and are able to communicate the image with each other. There is still two of them, but I believe they won't be different than the others killed. So, if the enemy isn't among them, then where is he? Where is Nagato hiding? _

Deciding to end the two last bodies in front of him, Jiraiya charged at the Yahiko body. Confident that he would use his repelling technique at him, Jiraiya waited at the very last moment, evading the technique, while landing a fierce kick on his eyes region. Because of the power behind the kick, the Yahiko body went blind, allowing Jiraiya to focus on the last one standing. So far, that specific enemy didn't show any battle skills.

_**Chou Oodama Rasengan**_

The gigantic spiraling ball of energy engulfed the last member, before his body exploded because of the impact.

The Yahiko body was hopeless against Jiraiya's onslaught as he was hit with a normal but strong Rasengan on his chest, killing the end of the Pein bodies, quite to Naruto's surprise. The blond only saw the pervert's blur as he dealt with two enemies at once.

_**(AN: Okay, who is with me? Pein wasn't all that special. Jiraiya managed to beat three of them in canon. If he had help – S ranked help - Pein would be killed in Amegakure)**_

Jiraiya, though, was surprised when he felt flesh instead of metal, upon touching Yahiko's body. In spite the difference, Jiraiya recognized a couple of similarities between all the bodies. One of them was, of course, was the Rinnegan eyes and the other was the black metallic rods on their faces. Passing his hands on one of them, the Sannin suddenly felt a different source of chakra coming from maybe the tallest tree behind some mountains.

_I bet that there is where I'll find Nagato…_

"Naruto..." Jiraiya shouted, calling his student's attention. "Follow me; there is someone we still need to deal with. Fugasaku-sama, Shima-sama, thank you both for your assistance…"

* * *

**===At Kumogakure===**

Meanwhile, in Kumogakure, the area would be better described as a full-out battle zone. Gigantic holes were everywhere as the two giants from Kumo battled three S-ranked missing-nins. Better yet, two as Deidara fell victim to Killer Bee's eight-tailed form. It's incredible how a simple well-placed punch could dislocate a man's neck like that. The fight barely begun and the Jinchuuriki appeared in front of the blond ex-Iwa Nin, landing a few first hits, sending him flying.

The punch disorientated his senses, not allowing him to do anything as Killer Bee pounded at him like dirt.

Also when Kakuzu or Hidan dared helping their comrade, the Raikage managed to hold them in tow with his **Raiton no Yoroi** (Lightning Armor) Jutsu. In the end, both of them just watched as Deidara was crushed senseless by yet another Jinchuuriki. Deidara even attempted to initiate his C4 techniques, but he didn't have the time even to mold a little spider as his neck received the end of a demonic enhanced punch.

Hidan was next as the one whom took care of him was the Raikage. He was constantly punched, elbowed, kicked by A's powerful lightning strikes. Eventually, his head was cut off, even though he didn't die, much too both Kumo shinobi's shock. Nevertheless, right now he was incapacitated. Everything took no more than ten minutes and Kakuzu snarled at his current predicament. He just couldn't deal with the Hachibi Jinchuuriki and the Yondaime Raikage alone. One thing that the ex-Waterfall shinobi knew about was to survive. Anyone who saw him didn't give him more than forty or fifty years old.

However, what no one knew was that the man was alive at the time of the Shodaime Hokage.

Leveling his two options right now (fight or flee), Kakuzu chose the latter. Of course, he could be charged of treason by the other members, but right now getting out alive was his top priority. Not to mention the fact that he would acquire more by fleeing, than by staying and fighting a lost battle. After all, there would be others in the future. Suddenly, he saw the Raikage about to punch him, thus he used a simple kawarimi with a rock that was about to fall from the cliff towards the ocean. Kakuzu just fell on the water and used a simple suiton technique he stole from a chunnin in Kirigakure, allowing him to breathe below water.

Now alone, Killer Bee and Raikage snarled at the damn organization for fleeing from their grasp. At least, they managed to kill two of them. Well, apparently Hidan was impossible to kill, however it didn't stop the Jinchuuriki from baring his battered body in a separate place from his head. As soon as he did so, a team of Anbu approached their location.

"It seems this fight was quicker than anticipated. Either that or I'm afraid I'll have to improve our Anbu's training regimen if it took this much time for them to arrive to our location." The Raikage said, earning a smile from his brother. He could hear every single Anbu gulp in fear upon hearing the possibility of training in hell, courtesy of their loving yet demanding Yondaime Raikage.

* * *

**===With Jiraiya===**

Travelling quickly between the debris, it didn't take long before Jiraiya and Naruto entered the great number of trees that surrounded the great village of Konohagakure. Naruto had many words to describe the Sannin in front of him. Despite neglecting his training for three years, the blond could say that Jiraiya was more family to him than everyone in the past, even old Sandaime Hokage. He always laughed and played with Naruto.

And up to this point, he never saw him as serious as he was now.

Still the last phrase he heard from the enemy had him thinking. The fact that it was Jiraiya who taught the man responsible for hunting all the bijuus at first confused the blond. Jiraiya wasn't the type of person who would do something like this, even if ordered by his Hokage. The man was powerful but equally kind. The only reason why he would consider training someone would be to better prepare him or her against some threat.

A couple minutes afterward, both stood in front of a weird looking tree that stood in the middle of a clearing. Quickly passing their hands over it, they could feel the tree's fabric, but only Jiraiya wasn't surprised to feel paper instead of regular wood. It didn't take two seconds before Jiraiya tore a hole inside the tree, before gasping at the sight of the boy he once thought would change the World into a better place with the power he had at his disposal.

Instead, he goes on and does the opposite. Jiraiya came in here to get answers…he wanted to know what happened to those three he cared for immensely.

"It's been a while Jiraiya-sensei." Nagato greeted as he took a moment to see his sensei's shocked look at his appearance.

Merging from the shadows, Konan's body suddenly transformed into paper as she charged at Jiraiya and Naruto, hoping to protect Nagato. However, she was bombarded with two jet of oil fired by both enemies, forbidding her from using her kekkei genkai at all. Jiraiya, for his chance, looked at his other two students despite wondering how Naruto managed to learn the **Gamayudan no Jutsu** (Toad Oil Projectile Technique).

"Indeed it's been a while, though I didn't wish to see you two in such a situation. When I taught you three, it was for protection. You took that knowledge and became the enemy instead. I still remembered that kind kid whose only drive was to better protect his two friends. What happened to him?" Jiraiya asked with a tone of voice that indicated both anger and a slightest tint of regret in believing at them.

He was surprised upon seeing Nagato's Rinnegan eyes. They were different than before, that much he was sure of it. He knew that look. It belonged to someone who had his fare share of pain in his life. After witnessing great deals of pain, a man could only make two choices. Either swallow everything and uphold his position or do something to remedy everything…the past sins. Ninety percent of the shinobi that have been through this kind of thing chose the first option. The rest tend to choose the second and most of the time, they tend to become enemies in the future.

It was quite obvious what happened, despite not knowing much about their life after he left. He wished to know what happened since.

"You have no right to judge us Jiraiya-sensei. It was your village that caused everything." Nagato said, surprising Jiraiya since he never once knew anything about an official mission sponsored by the Hokage regarding his three students and Hanzou of the Salamander.

"After you left, Hanzou of the Salamander increased his incursions over Amegakure. He came to us one day and offered a deal. Naïve and innocent we were, we believed in him. After you left, we decided to save Amegakure from certain downfall. We searched a way to end all the wars. Yahiko and I managed to convince a great number of followers. Hanzou sensed a threat in our group. When we arrived at a specific location, we were betrayed by Hanzou and his men. In the beginning, we managed to beat his men, but then he had help from Konoha. Danzou and his minions killed every one of our followers."

Narrowing his eyes at the sudden information, Jiraiya knew that Nagato wasn't lying, for Nagato to know Danzou pretty much proved that.

"After capturing Konan, Hanzou backed me and Yahiko into a corner." Jiraiya could see Konan's downed face as Nagato started explaining. "He threatened to kill Konan, unless I'd kill our organization leader Yahiko. Both Konan and I didn't know what to do, but Yahiko's mind was clear on this manner…I only held the kunai in hand and he jumped in front of it."

'_I just wanted to protect those two…no matter what kind of pain I have to endure_'_ Nagato said to Jiraiya when he was just a kid._

"After that, my only wish was to avenge his death so I…killed them all using the Rinnegan power. Because of Yahiko's death, I took over as the leader of our organization. I thought I had grown up, I thought I could change things…I was wrong. It was the same time my parents were killed by two chunins of Konohagakure. Yahiko's death changed everything in my life. Since that day, countless comrades died in front of us. The peace-addled citizens of the Land of Fire….all of them were fully aware of having taken part in war, yet they proclaim peace. That only exists in great nations because of the sacrifice of us small nations."

That speech wasn't alien to Jiraiya. He knew a lot about history to realize that beneath the five big nations' pact of neutrality, was the suffering of the smaller nations.

"Everything you believe in, Jiraiya-sensei, is just wishful thinking. As long as human beings exist, there will always be hatred."

As Naruto heard the conversation, he remembered Jiraiya's speech about coming up with a way to get rid of the hatred. However, he concurred with Nagato that it was wishful thinking, even though he wished it differently. Killing was a ninja's job. Some did it to satisfy some unknown vice for blood, but others did so to protect. That was Konohagakure's way of the ninja taught to him by the Sandaime Hokage.

"Nagato, it saddens me that you took on this path. However, after hearing your story, I suppose you had your reasons to do so. However, Akatsuki is considered a top criminal organization that managed to threaten not only Konoha, but all of the other major villages, including the minor ones as I believe Kakuzu, a Takigakure missing ninja, is a part of the organization. Both of you is now under arrest, I'm sorry…"

As soon as he said those words, he stroke both with restriction seals that quickly send them to unconsciousness, while three teams of Anbus appeared at the location, in order to capture them and take both into custody. While accompanying the Anbus, Jiraiya looked downside as he passed by Naruto.

"Are you okay?" The blond asked as he turned to his godfather. The pervert, for his part, didn't turn to see his godson. Instead, he only nodded and left the room via shunshin just as Kakashi arrived at the location. Naruto didn't even ask about Itachi. The fact that he was there, proved that Kakashi was victorious. He chose instead to consider what he'd learned thus far. He considered Akatsuki to be filled with no good criminals. However, Nagato and Konan were different. They were just one of the many victims of history.

Just like him.

Nevertheless, they managed to defeat Akatsuki's Leader and quite certainly, the organization would cease to exist.

* * *

**===At Konoha's Holding Cells===**

With his eyes closed, Uchiha Sasuke was seating in his dark cell alone. He lost count of the amount of time he'd spent there already.

At first, he tried screaming his way out of this hell hole. Because of the restriction seal, he couldn't use chakra and he didn't have anything to cut the strong metal bars that kept him inside. Running his hand over the scar left by Asuma's attack, Sasuke wondered what would become of his life now. Would anyone come for him eventually and free him? He'd like to think so…after all, his hatred for Itachi knew no boundaries and it kept him going, where others would commit suicide.

_Sasuke-kun…_

The whisper surprised the Uchiha as he looked around the empty hallway for someone. No one was there, but somehow the voice was familiar to him.

_Sasuke-kun…you still wish for revenge don't you?_

"Yes, I do with every fiber of my being." Sasuke answered, with a silent pleading that whoever it was helped him get away for him to finally deal with his brother.

_Patience then. In time, you'll be free and together, we'll kill Itachi and make him pay for what he did to you and your family. _

The voice not only awakened Sasuke, but also his madness for dealing with Itachi for good. He wanted revenge; no he needed to avenge his family.

* * *

**==Author Note===**

And finally, we reached the final chapter of my first story. Funny, I still remember when I started the first chapter. It was by accident that I discovered the world of fan fiction and decided to write a story, this one. I created a fed up Naruto who wanted more than just learning how to use the fox's chakra. He managed to teach himself pretty much four elemental ninjutsu and earned a nice reputation as a kenjutsu user.

After that, he managed to pass the Chunnin Exams and met Mitarashi Anko, who later became his girlfriend and future wife (there is no use hiding anymore, right?). He managed to beat tough opponents out there, earning the right to perform the Jounin Exams, which he passed. After he received his promotion, he managed quite a list of accomplishments. He convinced an S-ranked Iwa-nin to join Konoha's forces as well as teach him the art of Iron Manipulation. He managed to secure one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist against the Yondaime Mizukage's forces and he even managed to beat Hoshigaki Kisame, a man who was once considered the strongest of the Seven Swordsmen, thus attaining S-ranked status.

What else awaits our hero in the future, you may ask? Well, Madara for once still has to show his face and Orochimaru still has plans of his own.

Not to mention some personal problems as well, right!

Tell me what you think.

Plus, I placed a challenge in my profile page. I was meaning to create a new story, but hey who I'm kidding! I don't have the time to properly update the already existing stories, let one throw another one into the mess. It's an idea I had after seeing the last Shippuuden Movie. It involves one of the bloodlines mentioned at the last Naruto Shippuuden Movie called **Jintou** (Swift Release). If anyone is interested, please check it out and let me know.

Furthermore, I placed a poll on my profile page, so please take a look as well. I decided that I'll pick one story to focus on after this one and 'Lone Wolf'. Check it out and place your vote.

Ja ne.


End file.
